dredge up
Britishverb
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to bring to notice, esp with considerable effort and from an obscure, remote, or unlikely source
to dredge up worthless ideas
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to raise with or as if with a dredge
they dredged up the corpse from the lake
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Online critics were quick to dredge up comments by a former Argentinian leader as proof of the country’s bias.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
During one particularly tough patch that summer, the media managed to dredge up every stupid thing I had ever said publicly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 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
The Delaware trial isn’t about Hunter Biden’s foreign business affairs, though the proceedings were likely to dredge up dark, embarrassing and painful memories.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2024
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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
