dredge

[drej]

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noun

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.

a barge on which such a machine is mounted.

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

verb (used with object), dredged, dredg·ing.

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

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

verb (used without object), dredged, dredg·ing.

to use a dredge.

Verb Phrases

dredge up,

to unearth or bring to notice: We dredged up some old toys from the bottom of the trunk.
to locate and reveal by painstaking investigation or search: Biographers excel at dredging up little known facts.

Origin of dredge

1425–75; late Middle English (Scots) dreg-, Old English *drecg(e); see dray, draw

dredge

[drej]

verb (used with object), dredged, dredg·ing. Cookery.

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

Origin of dredge

1590–1600; v. use of dredge (now obsolete or dial.) mixture of grains, late Middle English dragge, dregge, apparently to be identified with Middle English drag(g)e, dragie (disyllabic) sweetmeat, confection < Anglo-French drag(g)é, dragee, Old French (see dragée); compare similar dual sense of Medieval Latin dragētum, dragium

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for dredge

widen, clean, unearth, raise

Examples from the Web for dredge

Contemporary Examples of dredge

Remove some shallots from the buttermilk and dredge in the seasoned flour mixture.
Make Carla Hall’s Crispy Shallot Green Bean Casserole
Carla Hall
December 27, 2014
They get $8 million to dredge the channel for pleasure boats to sail to Catalina Island.
Congress’ Gift That Keeps on Giving
P. J. O’Rourke
December 20, 2014
Let me go ahead and dredge this up before someone else does.
Coming Clean on Egypt
Michael Tomasky
August 15, 2013
Perhaps some of them might dredge up some outrage over the message behind what Karzai did to the United States yesterday.
To Hell With Karzai
Leslie H. Gelb
March 12, 2013
This whole project could be fruitful and dredge up even more dirt on Nixon.
President Obama Eyes New Oval Office While the White House Undergoes Renovations
Lauren Ashburn
February 3, 2013

Historical Examples of dredge

Dredge the fruits and nuts with flour and fold them into the mixture.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 4
Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
Brush with milk, dredge with sugar, and bake for about 1/2 hour.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 4
Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
Having cleaned the fish, and cut off the fins, dredge them with flour.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie
After a while turn them, and salt and dredge the other side.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie
Then wipe the pieces, season them with pepper and salt, and dredge them with flour.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie

British Dictionary definitions for dredge

dredge

noun

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

another name for dredger 1 (def. 1)

verb

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

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

Word Origin for dredge

C16: perhaps ultimately from Old English dragan to draw; see drag

dredge

verb

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

Word Origin for dredge

C16: from Old French dragie, perhaps from Latin tragēmata spices, from Greek

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dredge

late 15c., in Scottish dreg-boat "boat for dredging," perhaps ultimately from root of drag (possibly via Middle Dutch dregghe "drag-net"). The verb is attested from c.1500 in Scottish. Related: Dredged; dredging.