as in searching
to look through (as a place) carefully or thoroughly in an effort to find or discover something
the owner of the bed-and-breakfast often trolls antique stores for furniture and knickknacks
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Recent Examples of trolling
Stokes seems to enjoy trolling the media and public a bit, too.
—
Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 24 Apr. 2026
Her third album, Sheezus (2014), saw her trolling her fellow music artists, including rapper Kanye West (Sheezus is a riff on his Yeezus).
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Apr. 2026
Fuentes came of age in an ecosystem of edgelord posting and trolling in-jokes.
—Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
Newsom prioritizes trolling Trump over governing.
—FOXNews.com, 31 Mar. 2026
The city maintains that the lid lifters, besides trolling for batteries and propane tanks, are part of an education program to help residents understand the city’s totally insane trash-sorting rules.
—Inga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Mar. 2026
If trolling your enemies on Instagram were an Olympic sport, 50 Cent would have a chestful of gold medals.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 13 Mar. 2026
Yet Fishback promotes conspiracy theories and trolling language against Jewish people.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 3 Mar. 2026
In critiquing Trump on social media, Newsom has taken to imitating the president’s tone, trolling Trump in his all-caps style.
—Meg Kinnard, Fortune, 3 Mar. 2026
Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 24 Apr. 2026
Her third album, Sheezus (2014), saw her trolling her fellow music artists, including rapper Kanye West (Sheezus is a riff on his Yeezus).
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Apr. 2026
Fuentes came of age in an ecosystem of edgelord posting and trolling in-jokes.
—Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
Newsom prioritizes trolling Trump over governing.
—FOXNews.com, 31 Mar. 2026
The city maintains that the lid lifters, besides trolling for batteries and propane tanks, are part of an education program to help residents understand the city’s totally insane trash-sorting rules.
—Inga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Mar. 2026
If trolling your enemies on Instagram were an Olympic sport, 50 Cent would have a chestful of gold medals.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 13 Mar. 2026
Yet Fishback promotes conspiracy theories and trolling language against Jewish people.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 3 Mar. 2026
In critiquing Trump on social media, Newsom has taken to imitating the president’s tone, trolling Trump in his all-caps style.
—Meg Kinnard, Fortune, 3 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trolling
Verb
-
By my count, that would leave the Rangers searching for three forwards and two defensemen, plus a new backup goalie.—
Vincent Z. Mercogliano,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
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That's because people like the Warneskys, who are seeking to rebuild in disaster-prone regions, are searching for greater peace of mind.—
Vanessa Romo,
NPR,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
From the vantage point of L2, the X-ray spacecraft was able to gather the data that informed this soft X-ray map by scanning the sky four times between 2019 and 2021.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
24 Apr. 2026
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In some cases, paid ICE officers were scanning IDs while unpaid TSA workers were working the security scanning machines at Hartsfield-Jackson.—
Irene Wright,
USA Today,
23 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Trolling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trolling. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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