1. fishing nets that hang vertically in the water and catch fish by their gills when they try to swim through
Usage: fishing; plural form

Examples

• Commercial fishermen use gillnets to catch salmon during their migration.
• The gillnets were set at dawn and checked several hours later.
• Environmental groups are concerned about dolphins getting caught in gillnets.
• Regulations limit the mesh size of gillnets to protect juvenile fish.
• The fishing boat deployed its gillnets near the continental shelf.
• Many countries have banned drift gillnets in international waters.