troll
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.someone who leaves annoying or mean messages online to make other people angry.
n.a person who intentionally posts provocative, inflammatory, or off-topic messages in an online community to elicit an emotional response or disrupt discussion.
Simple“Don't reply to his comment; he is just a troll looking for an argument.”
In context“The moderator banned the user after it became clear they were a professional troll hired to derail political discussions on the forum.”
Synonymsprovocateurharasser - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a large, ugly, and sometimes scary creature from old Scandinavian stories that often lives in caves or under bridges.
n.a supernatural being from Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore, typically depicted as grotesque, dim-witted, and occasionally giant.
Simple“In the fairy tale, a grumpy troll lived under the bridge and asked travelers for money.”
In context“The fantasy novel reimagines the traditional mountain troll as a sophisticated, stone-skinned guardian of the ancient peaks.”
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to post something online specifically to start a fight or upset someone.
v.to engage in the act of posting inflammatory or insincere content online for the purpose of baiting others into a conflict.
Simple“She realized the stranger was just trolling her and decided to ignore the messages.”
In context“The account was suspended for systematically trolling high-profile journalists with coordinated waves of misinformation.”
- 04 C1 Advanced
v.to fish by pulling a line with bait behind a slowly moving boat.
v.to fish by trailing a baited line or lure behind a vessel in motion. Often confused with 'trawl', which involves a net.
Simple“We spent the afternoon trolling for trout in the middle of the lake.”
In context“The fishermen spent the dawn hours trolling the coastal waters, hoping to catch kingfish before the sun rose too high.”
UsageThe verb is often used with 'for' to indicate the target species.
PitfallThey were trawling for salmon with a single hook. They were trolling for salmon with a single hook.Use 'troll' for a line and hook; use 'trawl' for a large net.
- 05 C2 Proficiency
n.a company that buys legal rights to an idea just to sue other people for money.
n.an individual or company that enforces intellectual property rights aggressively for the sole purpose of collecting licensing fees or settlements.
Simple“The small startup was sued by a patent troll over a very basic software feature.”
In context“Legislative efforts have increased in recent years to curb the predatory practices of copyright trolls who target individual internet users.”
Synonymspatent shark
Partly: from Middle English trol (“demon (?); sorcerer (?)”) [and other forms], from Old Norse trǫll (“conjurer, mage; witch”), from Proto-Germanic truzlą (“supernatural being; demon, fiend; giant; monster”), probably from trudaną (“to step on; to tread”) + -ilą (suffix forming agent nouns); and * borrowed from Norwegian Bokmål troll, Swedish troll, or Danish trold, from Old Norse trǫll (see above). Doublet of droll and trow. Cognates * Danish fortrylle (“to bewitch”), trylle (“to conjure”) * Icelandic tröll * Middle High German trol, crewtrolle (“spook, wraith; ogre, monster”) * Norwegian fortrylle (“to bewitch”), trylle (“to conjure”) * Swedish trolla (“to conjure”)
The verb is derived from Middle English trollen (“to go about, wander; to move (something) to and fro, rock; to roll; to turn”) [and other forms], of uncertain origin; perhaps in part from Old French troller (“to run here and there; to walk aimlessly, ramble, stroll; (hunting) to wander about looking for game”) (modern French troller); further etymology uncertain, yet probably from or related to Middle High German trollen (“to stroll, walk with short strides”) (modern German trollen (“to move slowly, trundle; to push off, toddle off”)), ultimately from Proto-Germanic truzlōną (“to lumber”), which is probably related to trudaną (“to step on, tread”) (see further at etymology 1). Doublet of trull. Verb etymology 2 sense 4.2.2 (“to fish using a line and bait or lures trailed behind a boat”) is possibly influenced by trail and/or trawl. The noun is probably derived from the verb. Noun etymology 2 sense 4 (“person who makes or posts inflammatory or insincere statements in an attempt to lure others into combative argument”) is possibly influenced by troll (etymology 1). Cognates * Middle Low German drullen (“to stroll”) (Low German trullen (“to troll”))
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.