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

In the longer term, Germany needs to dredge deeper navigation channels and develop a new class of low-draft ships, argued Bilger, a member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU/CSU bloc.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 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

“My husband was an important man, and I am pleased that you remember his films with such fondness, but he’s become so fragile. It’s not a good idea to dredge up the past for him.”

From "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick

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

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

From BBC ● May 22, 2025

The episode ends with a spooky sequence in one of the abandoned dredges, where Danvers and Navarro follow up on a photo suggesting that Clark has been moving around in the area.

From New York Times ● Feb. 4, 2024

I don’t know why my brain dredges up that image, but when the lights flash on, I jump.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

And if the dredged mud isn't contained properly, it spills into nearby waters.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Instead, firefighters and public works employees were covering the site inch by inch with soil dredged from a nearby site.

From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026

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

She rested her hands and smiled, like this had dredged up a sweet, long-lost memory.

From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

An environmental impact assessment found that the dredging in nearby Malakal Harbour -- expected to start this year -- will cause the loss of 4.26 hectares of coral, impacting endangered turtles, fish and dugong.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

Since 2021, Woolston Eyes has been transformed from a former dredging site into a network of freshwater pools and reedbeds.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

Many neighbors are hopeful that the city will proceed with a plan for dredging that would dramatically expand the beach and provide more of a barrier against the waves.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 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

He knew its flaws, its many flaws, but believed that with a lot of deft dredging and sculpting, the park could be transformed into a landscape unlike any that had ever seated an exposition.

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

Related Words

• clean
• widen