trawl

noun

1. A net or dragnet used for trawling.
2. A long fishing line having many short lines bearing hooks attached to it; a setline.
3. An exhaustive search.

   “I embarked on a trawl through my uncle's papers in search of his missing will.”

verb

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

   “The fisherman went out to trawl the deep sea for shrimp.”

2. (intransitive)To fish from a slow-moving boat.

   “They used a large net to trawl for fish along the coast.”

3. (intransitive)To make an exhaustive search for something within a defined area.

   “We need to trawl through the data to find meaningful patterns.”