trawl

/trɔːl/ (bre, ipa) · /trɔːl/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈtrȯl How to pronounce trawl (audio)/ (ame, mw) · /trɑːl/ (ame, ipa)

trawl — 動詞

  • trawlpresent simple I / you / we / they
  • trawlshe / she / it
  • trawledpast simple
  • trawling-ing form

1. to look thoroughly across a very broad collection of material or many different

1.動詞及物 / 不及物B2
釋義

搜尋；查閱

仔細查閱大量資料以找尋目標

to look thoroughly across a very broad collection of material or many different sources with the aim of locating a specific piece of data or a particular person.

例句

Eitan trawled through hundreds of job ads before finding one that matched his skills.

Eitan 翻閱了數百則徵才廣告，才找到一個符合他技能的工作。

trawl through [documents/data]

The detective trawled the police database for any record matching the suspect's description.

那名警探在警方資料庫中仔細搜尋，想找到與嫌疑人描述相符的記錄。

trawl + [database] for [target]

同義詞
  • search

    search is the general, neutral term; trawl suggests a wider, less targeted sweep through a large volume.

  • comb

    comb implies more thorough, systematic, and detailed searching than trawl.

  • scour

    scour suggests intense, energetic searching, often over a wide area.

  • sift

    sift suggests sorting through material to separate useful from useless items.

文法句型

trawl + through + [documents/data/records]

trawl + [database/records/files] + for + [target]

trawl + [places] + for + [people/things]

用法筆記

Frequently followed by 'through' when the object is a collection (trawl through records). Can also take a direct object when the thing searched is a defined set (trawl the database). The figurative use is most common in journalism, police work, and research contexts.

常見錯誤

❌I trawled through the book for the answer.' (implies the whole book, not a search within)
✅I trawled through the archives for old letters from 1920.
💡'trawl through' works best with a large, unstructured collection, not a single book.

2. to fish by pulling a large net behind a boat so that the net scoops up fish from

2.動詞及物 / 不及物B2
釋義

拖網捕魚

用拖網在海中捕魚

to fish by pulling a large net behind a boat so that the net scoops up fish from the sea, especially from near the ocean floor.

例句

Amani's father trawled the North Sea every week, coming home with cod and haddock.

Amani 的父親每週都在北海拖網捕魚，帶著鱈魚和黑線鱈回家。

trawl + [sea area] for [fish type]

The coast guard caught a boat that was trawling inside the protected marine zone.

海岸巡邏隊抓到一艘在保護海域內拖網捕魚的船隻。

passive: caught + trawling + location

同義詞
  • drag

    drag is a more general term for pulling something heavy; trawl is specific to fishing with a net.

  • fish

    fish is the general activity; trawl specifies the method (net dragged behind a boat).

文法句型

trawl + waters/area + for + fish type

trawl + [duration] + for + fish type

trawl + [prepositional phrase]

用法筆記

Intransitive use is followed by 'for' plus the target catch (trawl for cod). Transitive use takes the body of water as the object (trawl the bay).

常見錯誤

❌The fishermen trawled fishes from the sea.
✅The fishermen trawled the sea for fish.
💡'trawl' does not take the caught fish as a direct object; it takes the water area, and the catch is introduced with 'for'.

trawl — 名詞