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

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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

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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

The state power company was working to restore electricity and authorities promised to help with home repairs and to dredge flooded streets.

From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 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

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

Eventually, two diggers were deployed on Thursday to dredge a channel for the whale to swim into deeper water, and rescue teams worked late into the day under floodlights to save it.

From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026

Nothing better than to dredge a hunk of hot biscuit through chowder thick with clams and potatoes.

From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk

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

When their father decides to defend the accused teen, it dredges up past traumas for Charlie and Sam as well as secrets Pikesville residents and the Quinn family have hidden for years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2025

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

Bono dredges up Paul Weller's scathing critique of their band.

From BBC ● May 22, 2025

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

The recently released Epstein files have dredged up painful memories for Pozhidaeva.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 2026

In an interview with an NPR podcast earlier this month she said the latest release of files dredged up "painful times in my marriage".

From BBC ● Feb. 25, 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

Looking for something that’s been thrown away as useless, but could still be dredged up and reclaimed.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

The effect is something like uncanny sketch comedy, dredging laughs from Hansen’s stilted expressions and intense demeanor, regardless of a scene’s emotional gravity.

From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026

I spent fruitless hours testing my employer’s patience, neglecting my more immediate work while dredging up zero-retweet Twitter posts from the early 2010s.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

These projects should increase demand for dredging engineering services and vessel utilization, supporting the marine services group’s businesses over the longer term.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Underwater dredging risks releasing heavy metals and toxic substances trapped deep in the seabed, which could enter the marine food chain and jeopardise commercial fish stocks, she told AFP.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

“Big Dub and his family were gone, and they weren’t coming back. What was the point in dredging up the past?”

From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson

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