to haul in a big catch

3.7

To catch and pull many fish into a boat

phrasal verb

: capturar una gran cantidad

After a long day at sea, they proudly hauled in a big catch of salmon.

Examples

They celebrated on the docks after hauling in a big catch this morning.
The fishermen hoped to haul in a big catch before the storm hit.
After hours of waiting, she finally managed to haul in a big catch.
They hauled in a big catch yesterday!
Did you haul in a big catch last weekend?
The fishermen were excited to haul in a big catch as the sun began to rise.
With each pull of the net, they hoped to haul in a big catch before heading home.

Synonyms

to trawl

vsto haul in a big catch

Specialized

1 5.3

To fish by dragging a large net or line through water

focuses on pulling in a very large quantity of sea animals

to net fish

vsto haul in a big catch

2.8

To catch fish with a net

focuses on pulling in a large amount of sea animals

Antonyms

to lose

∞ 1.1

Fail to understand or follow what someone says

to release

∞ 1.8

To let someone or something go free from being held

How Large

to haul in a big catch

3.7

catch

128 1.0

to bring in

15 3.3

Surface Forms

haul in a big catch infinitive

hauled in a big catch past

hauled in a big catch past participle

hauling in a big catch present participle

hauls in a big catch third person singular

Morphology

haul + in + a + big + catch

The meaning is directly built from the constituents: 'haul' (to pull) + 'in' (toward/into) yields 'pull in', and 'a big catch' clearly denotes a large quantity of fish caught. This verb+particle + noun phrase composition is a common, compositional pattern in English (and found in many languages), so a B1 learner who knows the words can reasonably infer the meaning.

Etymology

Haul in a big catch comes from fishing: imagine fishermen using strength to haul in a heavy net full of fish and lift a big catch into their boat. So, it means 'to catch and pull in a lot of fish'.