dragnet

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drag·net

 (drăg′nĕt′)
n.
1. A system of coordinated procedures for apprehending criminal suspects or other wanted persons.
2.
a. A net for trawling; a trawl.
b. A net for catching small game.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

dragnet

(ˈdræɡˌnɛt)
n
1. (General Engineering) a heavy or weighted net used to scour the bottom of a pond, river, etc, as when searching for something
2. (Law) any system of coordinated efforts by police forces to track down wanted persons
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

drag•net

(ˈdrægˌnɛt)

n.
1. a net to be drawn along the bottom of a stream to catch fish, or along the ground for small game.
2. an interlinked system for finding or catching someone.
[1535–45]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.dragnet - a system of coordinated measures for apprehending (criminals or other individuals); "caught in the police dragnet"
system, scheme - a group of independent but interrelated elements comprising a unified whole; "a vast system of production and distribution and consumption keep the country going"
2.dragnet - a conical fishnet dragged through the water at great depthsdragnet - a conical fishnet dragged through the water at great depths
fishing net, fishnet - a net that will enclose fish when it is pulled in
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
Spanish / Español
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dragnet

[ˈdrægnet] N
1. (= net) → red f de arrastre, red f barredera
2. (fig) (by police) → operación f policial de captura, emboscada f
3. (US) (Pol) → dragadora f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

dragnet

[ˈdrægnɛt] n
(= fishing net) → drège f
(= combing of area) → piège m, coup m de filet
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

dragnet

n (for fish) → Schleppnetz nt; (= police hunt)groß angelegte Polizeiaktion
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

dragnet

[ˈdrægˌnɛt] nrete f a strascico; (fig) → rastrellamento
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
But we are always judging, 'that's not well- that's not right!' Our luck is like water in a dragnet: you pull at it and it bulges, but when you've drawn it out it's empty!
Every time he did anything the terrorists in the vicinity were gathered in by the police dragnet, and many of them were executed.
Cartels dealing in outlawed Waragi drink have improvised a new method of evading police dragnets, Siaya police boss Justus Kucha has said.
The boat was carrying a group of Egyptian fishermen using dragnets, which is a violation of Saudi fishing laws, he added.
PROFESSIONAL fisherman met with President Nicos Anastasiades yesterday to object to the issuing of licences which will allow dragnets to be used in Cypriot waters.
They believe the use of dragnets could wipe out small fish, like whitebait, which are a crucial link in the food chain.
Calling all cars; radio dragnets and the technology of policing.
It is also apparent, however, that courts and commentators have paid insufficient attention to searches and seizures of groups, a phenomenon referred to in this article as "government dragnets" because such searches attempt to cull out bad actors through ensnaring a much larger number of individuals who are innocent of any wrongdoing.
The police tools in these cases are DNA dragnets, databanks, and databases.
The police arrested people almost indiscriminately, with several journalists getting caught in the dragnets. In the evening, they chased a bunch of demonstrators out of the no-protest zone-then kept chasing, crossing Interstate 5 and entering Capitol Hill, a hip neighborhood and shopping district.
This distance, combined with large-scale sweeps that drew the innocent as well as the guilty into police dragnets, meant that in South Central the old saw about the police as an army of occupation carried more than just a ring of truth.