From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtrolltroll1 /trəʊl, trɒl $ troʊl/ noun [countable] 1 RFan imaginary creature in stories that looks like an ugly person2 someone who leaves offensive or upsetting messages on the Internet, just in order to get a reaction
Examples from the Corpus
troll• There was now, for example, a five-metre tall mountain troll standing in the road.• There were also some senior dwarfs from Copperhead and, standing well away from them, a group of trolls.• They are the trolls lurking beneath the jerry-built bridges that businesses and agencies view as shortcuts to high performance.• He drew his sword and, with a smooth overarm throw, completely failed to hit the troll.• The troll again asked his question and learned that an even bigger goat would soon cross his bridge.• The troll thought that was sensible, so he waited.trolltroll2 verb [intransitive, transitive] 1 American English to try to remove something from a river, ocean etc by pulling a rope, line etc through the water Ships towing huge magnets trolled the ocean floor.troll for I would troll for fish from the rowboat.2 American English to try to obtain something by searching, asking people etc SYN trawl British Englishtroll (something) for something Stewart spent hours trolling the Web for information.3 to leave offensive or upsetting messages on the Internet, just in order to get a reaction→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
troll• It's certainly true that both will now troll for votes in the same middle waters.Origin troll (1600-1700) Norwegian troll and Danish trold, from Old Norse troll “evil creature, giant” 