Trolling

How to spell trolling

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce trolling

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does trolling mean?

1. nounThe act of posting deliberately provocative or offensive messages online to upset people or to bait a reaction.
2. nounA method of fishing in which a baited line or lure is drawn slowly through the water behind a moving boat.

Trolling in a sentence

• The moderators banned the account for persistent trolling in the comments.

• The captain recommended trolling along the reef for mackerel at dawn.

• The company added a clear policy on trolling to its community guidelines.

• Slow trolling behind the dinghy produced two large salmon by lunchtime.

Where does trolling come from?

Language of origin: French

The base verb 'troll' comes through Middle English from the Old French 'troller', which meant to wander about or to roam in search of game while hunting. That sense of moving steadily around in pursuit of something gave rise, by the 1600s, to the angler's meaning: drawing a baited line slowly through the water behind a moving boat. In the late twentieth century the fishing image was borrowed into internet culture, where 'trolling' described casting out a provocative remark and waiting to see who would bite, exactly as an angler trails a lure. The modern online sense was reinforced by a happy coincidence with the Old Norse 'troll', the ugly mischief-making creature of folklore, even though the two words reached English by different routes. The single 'l' in the root doubling to 'll' before '-ing' is the small spelling point to watch.

How the word is built

• troll (to draw along, wander, or provoke)
• -ing (gerund/present participle suffix)