angling

Pluralanglings

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The sport or pastime of catching fish with a rod, line, and hook.

   Angling on the lake at dawn is his favorite weekend escape.

   These rivers offer excellent angling for trout and salmon.

   Similarfishing

   Note

   The sport is named for its tackle: an angle was the fishhook, so the word means fishing with a hook and line rather than with nets. It is usually a mass noun (excellent angling for salmon), but it can also count separate outings. Thomas Barker's The Art of Angling (1651) advises care about the sun and moon "in all your anglings, both with worms and flyes."

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of angle.

   The two friends were angling quietly when the storm rolled in.

   Angling for a promotion, he volunteered for every extra task.

   Note

   One spelling serves every verb sense of angle, from tilting a camera to swerving through traffic to trapping a cue ball. In the fishing and persuading senses it takes no direct object and usually pairs with for: angling for trout, angling for a compliment or a promotion. Keep it apart from the noun for the sport, which can take a plural, anglings. The verb form never does.

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