dredge

¹ American  

[drej] / drɛdʒ /

noun

• dredges
  plural

1. Also called dredging machine.  any of various powerful machines for dredging up or removing earth, as from the bottom of a river, by means of a scoop, a series of buckets, a suction pipe, or the like.

2. a barge on which such a machine is mounted.

3. a dragnet or other contrivance for gathering material or objects from the bottom of a river, bay, etc.

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verb (used with object)

dredged, dredging

1. to clear out with a dredge; remove sand, silt, mud, etc., from the bottom of.

2. to take, catch, or gather with a dredge; obtain or remove by a dredge.

verb (used without object)

dredged, dredging

1. to use a dredge.

verb phrase

1. dredge up

   1. to unearth or bring to notice.

      We dredged up some old toys from the bottom of the trunk.

   2. to locate and reveal by painstaking investigation or search.

      Biographers excel at dredging up little known facts.

dredge ² American  

[drej] / drɛdʒ /

verb (used with object)

Cooking.

dredged, dredging

1. to sprinkle or coat with some powdered substance, especially flour.

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dredge ¹ British  

/ drɛdʒ /

noun

1. Also called: dredger.  a machine, in the form of a bucket ladder, grab, or suction device, used to remove material from a riverbed, channel, etc

2. another name for dredger 1

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verb

1. to remove (material) from a riverbed, channel, etc, by means of a dredge

2. (tr) to search for (a submerged object) with or as if with a dredge; drag

dredge ² British  

/ drɛdʒ /

verb

1. to sprinkle or coat (food) with flour, sugar, etc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• dredges
  plural

Etymology

Origin of dredge¹

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English ( Scots ) dreg, as in dreg-boat “dredge boat,” probably an irregular formation of Old English dragan draw ( def. ); see also dray ( def. )

Origin of dredge²

First recorded in 1590–1600; verb use of dredge (now obsolete or dialectal) “mixture of grains,” from late Middle English drag(g)e, dreg(g)e, draget(e), apparently to be identified with Middle English drag(g)e, dragie “sweet sauce, confection; mixture of grains, mix or company of people,” from Anglo-French drag(g)é, dragee, from Old French dragie, dragé; possibly related to dragée

Explanation

When a harbor becomes filled with silt, you dredge it to make it navigable again. You scoop out the mud with a big shovel, which is also called a dredge, and make a channel deep enough for ships. Dredges have been at work in the Hudson River for years getting rid of industrial toxins, dredging up the contaminated sediment and loading it into barges to be carried away. If your car rolled into a lake by mistake, you might be able to hire a dredge that can be dragged across the bottom of the lake to recover things that have fallen in. You can dredge up memories, too, which usually entails reminding people of unpleasant ones they’d rather forget.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dredge dredges dredged dredging

Free to set his dredge For trade beyond Chez Maman Now that he’s shucked off.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

This is a film that serves a purpose, and Jones’ amiable writing and Aramayo’s engaging performance dredge up just enough sentimentality while keeping the movie from seeming overly instructive.

From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2026

Just five years ago, the same agency—then under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo—had denied the permit, citing the likelihood that it would dredge up toxic material.

From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025

In white coverall suits and full-face respirators, hazmat workers went property by property sifting through the ashes to dredge up lead-acid batteries, tins of paint thinner and pesticide canisters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2025

It’s crazy what a few lines of paint can do: I knew it would threaten the future for Dad, but I had no idea it would dredge up a long-forgotten past for the town.

From "Linked" by Gordon Korman

Some of the scenes the author dredges up from his deep trawl through Stasi archives are bizarre.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

But, as big moves so often do, the journey dredges up long-buried feelings of discontent and malaise between the couple.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2025

In a statement, USC said, “This lawsuit, which dredges up events that occurred as many as 10 years ago, has no legal merit.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2024

Why must every group have a prodigal troublemaker whose return dredges up these old memories?

From New York Times ● May 16, 2024

The dredges would leave an island at the center of the lagoon, to be called, simply, the Wooded Island.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

On April 19, Enchassi felt shaken by the bomb that had just exploded in Oklahoma City, and by the memories it dredged up of his childhood in Lebanon.

From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2026

He once dredged up 17 rings in a single day by sweeping the ocean bottom in a spot where tourists, well into their tequila sunrises, routinely launch themselves off catamarans, their fingers slick with sunscreen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026

A World War Two bomb dredged from the water in Exmouth is to be disposed of at sea on Friday morning.

From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2026

The sludge-covered statue was dredged out in 2009, cleaned up and put on display, but it took until 2023 for the Tigers finally to win the championship again.

From Barron's ● Dec. 3, 2025

Alex had dredged up the facts from somewhere and spoken them before he knew what he was doing.

From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz

"We are making efforts to maintain a navigable channel as much as possible -- albeit a narrower one -- so that navigation is not completely blocked," he added of the administration's dredging operations.

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

Experts say the river needs dredging, desilting and measures to restore its flow for agriculture.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

Pollution, and disturbance from anchoring, bottom trawling and dredging and coastal development have all contributed to its decline, the trust said.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

Without dredging, the delta’s waters are shallower and warmer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026

Over the North Sea in Britain’s Victorian empire, artists, writers and composers were dredging Albion’s Arthurian roots, too.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Related Words

• clean
• widen