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trolling line

trolling line

6.0
A fishing line with bait pulled behind a moving boat to catch fish
  • noun
  • /ˈtroʊlɪŋ laɪn/
translation icon : línea de trolling
  • The fisherman set up a trolling line early in the morning.

Examples

  • The fisherman let out the trolling line as the boat picked up speed across the lake.

  • After hours without a bite, they finally caught a salmon on the trolling line.

  • She adjusted the depth of her trolling line to target larger fish near the surface.

  • We used a trolling line to catch salmon last weekend.

  • The fisherman secured the bait to the end of the trolling line before casting it into the water.

  • As the boat moved slowly, the trolling line sank beneath the waves, hoping to attract more fish.

  • Using a trolling line allows anglers to cover more water and increase their chances of catching larger fish.

Synonyms

fishing line
vstrolling line
11 2.0

A strong thin string used to catch fish with a hook

is the specialized cord trailed behind a moving boat to catch fish
fishline
vstrolling line
2.3

A strong thin cord used to catch fish with a fishing rod

is the specialized cord used while towing bait behind a moving boat

Surface Forms

trolling line singular

Morphology

troll + line

The noun is transparently built from 'troll' (to fish by towing a baited line) plus 'line' (a long thin cord), so its meaning — a line used for trolling — is directly compositional. This verb+noun formation is a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern, and any potential ambiguity from the modern 'internet troll' sense is resolved by the fishing context, so a B1 learner knowing both constituents would grasp the meaning.

Etymology

The noun trolling line comes from a simple fishing method where a line with bait is trailed behind a moving boat and the action is called trolling because the bait moves through the water like a small fish and attracts bigger fish. So a trolling line is the line you let out behind a boat to 'catch fish'.