troll
noun/trɒl/, /trəʊl/
/trəʊl/
- (in Scandinavian stories) a creature that looks like an ugly person. Some trolls are very large and evil, others are small and friendly but like to trick people.
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- (informal) a message to a discussion group on the internet that somebody deliberately sends to make other people angry; a person who sends a message like thisTopics Phones, email and the internetc2
Word Originnoun sense 1from Old Norse and Swedish troll, Danish trold; adopted into English from Scandinavian in the mid 19th cent. noun sense 2 late Middle English (in the sense ‘stroll, roll’): origin uncertain; compare with Old French troller ‘wander here and there (in search of game)’ and Middle High German trollen ‘stroll’.
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