The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Trawl \Trawl\, v. i. [OF. trauler, troller, F. tr[^o]ter, to
   drag about, to stroll about; probably of Teutonic origin. Cf.
   Troll, v. t.]
   To take fish, or other marine animals, with a trawl.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Trawl \Trawl\, n.
   1. A fishing line, often extending a mile or more, having
      many short lines bearing hooks attached to it. It is used
      for catching cod, halibut, etc.; a boulter. [U. S. &
      Canada]
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A large bag net attached to a beam with iron frames at its
      ends, and dragged at the bottom of the sea, -- used in
      fishing, and in gathering forms of marine life from the
      sea bottom.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

trawl
    n 1: a long fishing line with many shorter lines and hooks
         attached to it (usually suspended between buoys) [syn:
         trawl, trawl line, spiller, setline, trotline]
    2: a conical fishnet dragged through the water at great depths
       [syn: trawl, dragnet, trawl net]
    v 1: fish with trawlers

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

65 Moby Thesaurus words for "trawl":
   angle, bait, bait the hook, birdlime, bob, bola, clam, cobweb, dap,
   dib, dibble, drag, draggle, dragnet, draw, drive, fish, fishhook,
   fly, fly-fish, gig, gill net, go fishing, grig, ground bait,
   guddle, hale, haul, heave, hook, jack, jacklight, jig, lariat,
   lasso, lime, lug, lure, meshes, net, noose, plug, pound net, pull,
   purse seine, seine, shrimp, snake, snare, sniggle, spin, spinner,
   springe, squid, still-fish, take in tow, toils, torch, tow, trail,
   train, troll, tug, whale, wobbler



The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

trawl
 v.

    To sift through large volumes of data (e.g., Usenet postings, FTP archives,
    or the Jargon File) looking for something of interest.


The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

trawl

   To sift through large volumes of data (e.g. Usenet postings,
   FTP archives, or the Jargon File) looking for something of
   interest.
   [Jargon File]