Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Troll?

\Troll\, n. [Icel. troll. Cf. {Droll}, {Trull}.] (Scand. Myth.) A supernatural being, often represented as of diminutive size, but sometimes as a giant, and fabled to inhabit caves, hills, and like places; a witch. {Troll flower}. (Bot.) Same as {Globeflower} (a) .
\Troll\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Trolled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Trolling}.] [OE. trollen to roll, F. tr[^o]ler, Of. troller to drag about, to ramble; probably of Teutonic origin; cf. G. trollen to roll, ramble, sich trollen to be gone; or perhaps for trotler, fr. F. trotter to trot (cf. {Trot}.). Cf. {Trawl}.] 1. To move circularly or volubly; to roll; to turn. To dress and troll the tongue, and roll the eye. --Milton. 2. To send about; to circulate, as a vessel in drinking. Then doth she troll to the bowl. --Gammer Gurton's Needle. Troll the brown bowl. --Sir W. Scott. 3. To sing the parts of in succession, as of a round, a catch, and the like; also, to sing loudly or freely. Will you troll the catch ? --Shak. His sonnets charmed the attentive crowd, By wide-mouthed mortaltrolled aloud. --Hudibras. 4. To angle for with a trolling line, or with a book drawn along the surface of the water; hence, to allure. 5. To fish in; to seek to catch fish from. With patient angle trolls the finny deep. --Goldsmith.
\Troll\, v. i. 1. To roll; to run about; to move around; as, to troll in a coach and six. 2. To move rapidly; to wag. --F. Beaumont. 3. To take part in trolling a song. 4. To fish with a rod whose line runs on a reel; also, to fish by drawing the hook through the water. Their young men . . . trolled along the brooks that abounded in fish. --Bancroft.
\Troll\, n. 1. The act of moving round; routine; repetition. --Burke. 2. A song the parts of which are sung in succession; a catch; a round. Thence the catch and troll, while ``Laughter, holding both his sides,'' sheds tears to song and ballad pathetic on the woes of married life. --Prof. Wilson. 3. A trolley. {Troll plate} (Mach.), a rotative disk with spiral ribs or grooves, by which several pieces, as the jaws of a chuck, can be brought together or spread radially.