dragnet

Meanings

Noun

• A net dragged across the bottom of a body of water.
• Heightened efforts by law-enforcement personnel to capture suspects.

Verb

• To drag a net across the bottom of a body of water.
• To make heightened efforts to catch a suspect.

Origin

• From drag + net, probably based on the model of Middle English draynet, dreynett, Old English dræġnet, dræġnett, equivalent to .