trawl
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: verb/1
All four words describe looking for something, but each emphasises a different method. 'Search' is the broadest, most neutral term — you can search anywhere for anything. 'Trawl' (the target sense) suggests going through a very large volume of material (documents, records, data) in a broad, somewhat mechanical sweep, without the fine-tooth detail implied by 'comb' or the energetic intensity of 'scour'. 'Comb' means a very thorough, systematic search in which no corner is missed — the police comb a crime scene. 'Scour' adds urgency and energy: you scour a city looking for a missing child. 'Sift' implies sorting through material, letting the useless parts fall away — you sift through evidence to separate relevant facts from irrelevant ones. A journalist might trawl the internet for sources (broad sweep), then sift the results for credible leads (sorting), then comb through one key document (thorough examination). Use 'trawl' when the defining feature is the large scale of the material being searched rather than the intensity of the search itself.
Common collocations
Etymology
The word 'trawl' entered English in the mid-1500s from Middle Dutch 'traghel', meaning a dragnet. The Dutch root 'tragen' means 'to pull' or 'to drag', referring to the way the net is pulled through the water. The verb form appeared shortly after, describing the action of fishing with such a net. The figurative use — searching through large amounts of information as if dragging a net — developed in the 20th century, first in journalism and police work, later in general use.
First known use
1561
1561, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a Noun