1. fishes with a large net dragged through the water
Usage: nautical
2. searches through something thoroughly

1. large fishing nets dragged through water
Usage: nautical

Examples

• The fishing boat trawls for cod in the North Sea.
• She trawls through old documents looking for evidence.
• The detective trawls social media for clues about the suspect.
• Commercial vessels use massive trawls to catch fish.
• He trawls the internet for bargains every weekend.
• The ship’s trawls brought up tons of fish.
• Researchers trawl through data to find patterns.