Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

trawl

/tɹoːl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.65 in modern English

Syllables: trawl
IPA: /tɹoːl/

8

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A net or dragnet used for trawling.

noun

A long fishing line having many short lines bearing hooks attached to it; a setline.

noun

An exhaustive search.

verb

To take (fish or other marine animals) with a trawl.

verb

To fish from a slow-moving boat.

Intransitive verb

verb

To make an exhaustive search for something within a defined area.

Intransitive verb

Example Sentences

"I embarked on a trawl through my uncle's papers in search of his missing will."
"The fisherman went out to trawl the deep sea for shrimp."
"They used a large net to trawl for fish along the coast."
"We need to trawl through the data to find meaningful patterns."

Etymology

16th century, borrowed from Dutch tragelen (“to pull with a towline, trawl”), from Middle Dutch traghelen, from traghel (“dragnet”) (presumably from Latin tragula (“dragnet”)), and as such root-cognate with English drag and dray.

Origin

Source language: Dutch

Word Breakdown

Root: tragelen, traghelen, tragula

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /tɹoːl/
British English: /tɹɔːl/

Usage

Intransitive verb

Inflected Forms

trawls (plural) trawls (present, singular) trawling (participle, present) trawled (participle, past) trawled (past)

Derived Forms

trawlwire trawlable trawlboat trawler trawlman trawlnet trawlwarp untrawled

Phrases

pelagic trawl trawl whiting

Frequently Paired Words

troll

Synonyms

rummage forage rifle dragnet trawl net trawl line spiller setline trotline

Homonyms

troll (some dialects)

Rhymes With

all at all small call tell all fall lol wall ball paul y'all overall

Questions

How do you pronounce trawl?: The recorded pronunciation is /tɹoːl/.
What does trawl mean?: A net or dragnet used for trawling.
Where does trawl come from?: It is traced to Dutch.

How to pronounce trawl

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “trawl”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/tɹoːl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “trawl”.
Repeat and practice — Say “trawl” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.