Dragnet
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A net dragged across the bottom of a body of water.
"Anchovy dragnets are an important part Korea's fishing sector. Over 99% of catches found in anchovy dragnets are anchovy. Although the annual total catches of anchovy have fluctuated, dragnets catch 55 to 70% of the total annual catch of anchovy. The remaining portion is caught with drift gill nets (10%) and other fishing methods."
- 2 a conical fishnet dragged through the water at great depths wordnet
- 3 A heightened effort by law enforcement personnel undertaken in order to capture suspects. figuratively
"The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives.[…]who, if anyone, is policing their use[?] Such concerns were sharpened further by the continuing revelations about how the US National Security Agency (NSA) has been using algorithms to help it interpret the colossal amounts of data it has collected from its covert dragnet of international telecommunications."
- 4 a system of coordinated measures for apprehending (criminals or other individuals) wordnet
- 1 To drag a net across the bottom of a body of water. transitive
"When ponds are cleaned out periodically, fish are trapped or dragnetted and finally the pond is drained to remove all fish."
- 2 To undertake a heightened effort to catch a suspect. figuratively, transitive
"In fact, Carty was not the man, but, after a police swoop had dragnetted twenty men suspected of having taken part in the business, he was lodged in Sligo jail and accused of this violence to the lady."
Example
More examples"Anchovy dragnets are an important part Korea's fishing sector. Over 99% of catches found in anchovy dragnets are anchovy. Although the annual total catches of anchovy have fluctuated, dragnets catch 55 to 70% of the total annual catch of anchovy. The remaining portion is caught with drift gill nets (10%) and other fishing methods."
Etymology
From drag + net, probably based on the model of Middle English draynet, dreynett (“dragnet”), Old English dræġnet, dræġnett (“dragnet”), equivalent to dray + net. Cognate with Swedish dragnät, Norwegian dragnett, from Icelandic dragnet.
Related phrases
More for "dragnet"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.