trawl

/tɹɔːl/

//tɹɔːl// noun

"trawl" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“trawl” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #44,535. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#44,535
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A net or dragnet used for trawling.

Corpus desk

Index EN-trawl · trawl · English

trawl · rank #44,535 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #44,535
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH toughen

Nearest frequency peer: toughen (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “trawl”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “trawl” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

trawl vs tray
60% similar
trawl vs trial
60% similar
trawl vs troll
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for trawl
PropertyValue
Headwordtrawl
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/tɹɔːl/
Letters5
Frequency rank#44,535
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “trawl”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).trawllands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “toughen” (#44,534), “tortuous” (#44,533), “triumphal” (#44,537). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “trawl” is #44,535. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around trawl (IPA /tɹɔːl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #44,535 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for trawl, with forms such as "rtawl", "tarwl", and "tralw". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "tray", "trial", "troll", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: 16th century, borrowed from Dutch tragelen (“to pull with a towline, trawl”), from Middle Dutch traghelen, from traghel (“dragnet”) (presumably from Latin tragula (“dragnet”)), and as such root-cognate with English drag and dray. The correct English form is trawl, spelled T-R-A-W-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    A net or dragnet used for trawling.
  2. 2
    A long fishing line having many short lines bearing hooks attached to it; a setline.
  3. 3
    An exhaustive search.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how trawl appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I embarked on a trawl through my uncle's papers in search of his missing will.

Etymology

16th century, borrowed from Dutch tragelen (“to pull with a towline, trawl”), from Middle Dutch traghelen, from traghel (“dragnet”) (presumably from Latin tragula (“dragnet”)), and as such root-cognate with English drag and dray.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • rtawl
  • tarwl
  • tralw
  • trawll
  • trawwl
  • trrawl
  • trwal
  • ttrawl

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of trawl - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

rtawl2tarwl2tralw2trawll1trawwl1trrawl1trwal2ttrawl1
Edit distance from "trawl"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "trawl"?
"trawl" is spelled T-R-A-W-L. The IPA pronunciation is /tɹɔːl/.
What does "trawl" mean?
As a noun, "trawl" means: A net or dragnet used for trawling.
What words are commonly confused with "trawl"?
"trawl" is commonly confused with "tray", "trial", "troll". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "trawl"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "trawl" is /tɹɔːl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "trawl"?
16th century, borrowed from Dutch tragelen (“to pull with a towline, trawl”), from Middle Dutch traghelen, from traghel (“dragnet”) (presumably from Latin tragula (“dragnet”)), and as such root-cognate with English drag and dray. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "trawl", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list