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Webster 1913 Edition


Dragnet

Drag′netˊ

,
Noun.
[Cf. AS.
drægnet
.]
A net to be drawn along the bottom of a body of water, as in fishing.

Webster 1828 Edition


Dragnet

DRAGNET

,
Noun.
A net to be drawn on the bottom of a river or pond for taking fish.

Definition 2024


dragnet

dragnet

See also: drag-net

English

Noun

dragnet (plural dragnets)

  1. A net dragged across the bottom of a body of water.
  2. Heightened efforts by law-enforcement personnel to capture suspects.
    • 2013 July 26, Leo Hickman, How algorithms rule the world”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 26:
      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.

Translations

Verb

dragnet (third-person singular simple present dragnets, present participle dragnetting, simple past and past participle dragnetted)

  1. To make heightened efforts to catch a suspect.

Anagrams