# troll

/ˈtɹoʊɫ/ (US) · /tɹˈəʊl/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/troll
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. online troublemaker

noun · CEFR B2 · Informal

someone who leaves annoying or mean messages online to make other people angry.

For teachers: a person who intentionally posts provocative, inflammatory, or off-topic messages in an online community to elicit an emotional response or disrupt discussion.

- Don't reply to his comment; he is just a troll looking for an argument.
- The moderator banned the user after it became clear they were a professional troll hired to derail political discussions on the forum.

### 2. mythological creature

noun · CEFR B2

a large, ugly, and sometimes scary creature from old Scandinavian stories that often lives in caves or under bridges.

For teachers: a supernatural being from Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore, typically depicted as grotesque, dim-witted, and occasionally giant.

- In the fairy tale, a grumpy troll lived under the bridge and asked travelers for money.
- The fantasy novel reimagines the traditional mountain troll as a sophisticated, stone-skinned guardian of the ancient peaks.

### 3. to provoke online

verb · CEFR B2 · Informal

to post something online specifically to start a fight or upset someone.

For teachers: to engage in the act of posting inflammatory or insincere content online for the purpose of baiting others into a conflict.

- She realized the stranger was just trolling her and decided to ignore the messages.
- The account was suspended for systematically trolling high-profile journalists with coordinated waves of misinformation.

### 4. fishing

verb · CEFR C1 · Technical

to fish by pulling a line with bait behind a slowly moving boat.

For teachers: to fish by trailing a baited line or lure behind a vessel in motion. Often confused with 'trawl', which involves a net.

- We spent the afternoon trolling for trout in the middle of the lake.
- The fishermen spent the dawn hours trolling the coastal waters, hoping to catch kingfish before the sun rose too high.

Usage: The verb is often used with 'for' to indicate the target species.

### 5. patent/copyright abuser

noun · CEFR C2 · Informal · Technical

a company that buys legal rights to an idea just to sue other people for money.

For teachers: an individual or company that enforces intellectual property rights aggressively for the sole purpose of collecting licensing fees or settlements.

- The small startup was sued by a patent troll over a very basic software feature.
- Legislative efforts have increased in recent years to curb the predatory practices of copyright trolls who target individual internet users.

## Examples

- Don't reply to him; he is just a troll.
- The moderator banned the user after realizing they were a troll trying to ruin the discussion.
- Digital platforms struggle to distinguish between genuine dissent and the calculated provocations of a professional troll aiming to derail public discourse.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.