troll

/troʊl/

/trəʊl/

Other forms: trolling; trolls; trolled

A troll is a supernatural creature who is either very big or very small, ugly, and not very nice. You're most likely to read about a troll in a fairytale — perhaps trying to trick a beautiful princess into marrying him!

You’ve probably come across a troll before, maybe in The Lord of the Rings. As a verb, to troll means to wander around. You may have heard of a trolley, which is a vehicle that helps you travel around a city. The word troll more generally refers to anything that repeats itself regularly. You might troll a city, searching for a trolley, or you might troll parts of a song, repeating them one after the other to annoy your neighbors!

Definitions of troll

1. noun

   (Scandanavian folklore) a supernatural creature (either a dwarf or a giant) that is supposed to live in caves or in the mountains
   type of:

   mythical creature, mythical monster

   a monster renowned in folklore and myth
2. verb

   angle with a hook and line drawn through the water
   type of:

   angle

   fish with a hook
3. noun

   angling by drawing a baited line through the water
   synonyms: trolling

   type of:

   angling

   fishing with a hook and line (and usually a pole)
4. noun

   a fisherman's lure that is used in trolling
   “he used a spinner as his troll”

   type of:

   fish lure, fisherman's lure

   (angling) any bright artificial bait consisting of plastic or metal mounted with hooks and trimmed with feathers
5. verb

   circulate, move around
   type of:

   circle, circulate

   move in circles
6. verb

   cause to move round and round
   “The child trolled her hoop”

   type of:

   roll, trundle, wheel

   move along on or as if on wheels or a wheeled vehicle
7. verb

   sing loudly and without inhibition
   type of:

   sing

   produce tones with the voice
8. verb

   praise or celebrate in song
   “All tongues shall troll you”

   type of:

   praise

   express approval of
9. verb

   speak or recite rapidly or in a rolling voice
   type of:

   mouth, speak, talk, utter, verbalise, verbalize

   express in speech
10. verb

    sing the parts of (a round) in succession
    type of:

    sing

    deliver by singing
11. noun

    a partsong in which voices follow each other; one voice starts and others join in one after another until all are singing different parts of the song at the same time
    synonyms: round

    type of:

    partsong

    a song with two or more voice parts