: to dig, gather, or pull out with or as if with a dredge (see dredgeentry 2)
dredging oysters in the bay
—often used with up
dredge up silt from the canal bottom
b
civil engineering: to deepen (a waterway) with a machine that removes earth usually by buckets on an endless chain or a suction tube : to deepen with a dredge (see dredgeentry 2 sense 2)
2
: to bring to light by deep searching—often used with up
Relaunching the Trojan clubs is likely to dredge up past resentment of its own from USC alumni. Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2022 Left out of the polling question was the project’s aim to dredge a billion cubic yards of the lake bed, which Utah’s scientific community fears could worsen the lake’s ecological problems and disrupt ongoing restoration projects. Brian Maffly, The Salt Lake Tribune, 9 Aug. 2022 Dip sweetbreads through egg wash and dredge them through breadcrumbs. Kathleen Squires, WSJ, 16 June 2022 Under the $1 trillion infrastructure law, $1.7 million will be used to dredge the harbor's shipping channel and basin. Chris Megerian, ajc, 19 Apr. 2022 The Utah company has claimed for the past five years that its plan to dredge a billion cubic yards of lake bed sediments would result in numerous public benefits — while also creating up to 20,000 acres of developable real estate. Brian Maffly, The Salt Lake Tribune, 17 Aug. 2022 In Bay City, for example, a multimillion-dollar Army Corps of Engineers project will dredge an access channel to connect its harbor to the lake again, as part of a larger habitat restoration effort. Caitlin Looby, Journal Sentinel, 25 July 2022 News of other school shootings, like the recent deadly attack at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, can also dredge up painful memories. Aria Bendix, NBC News, 12 June 2022 Biologists use equipment to dredge them at 1,500 sites along the bay’s lower, middle and upper portions of Maryland and Virginia. Dana Hedgpeth, Washington Post, 25 May 2022
Noun
New York, after initial opposition, agreed previously on the establishment of dredge spoil disposal sites in the western and central Sound. Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 2 Sep. 2022 But the case of the mining dredge marked the first time the Xipaia used the internet to protect their territory. Fabiano Maisonnave, ajc, 7 May 2022 First, Williams spoke on the $5 million lawmakers set aside to dredge and berm Great Salt Lake. Saige Miller, The Salt Lake Tribune, 16 June 2022 The annual dredge survey is done in the winter when blue crabs are less active. Dana Hedgpeth, Washington Post, 25 May 2022 The 11-mile dredge was slated to finish at the end of October and wrapped up about six months sooner. David Bauerlein, Orlando Sentinel, 30 May 2022 Transfer the pieces to the flour, and dredge until evenly coated. G. Daniela Galarza, Washington Post, 12 May 2022 Stony dredge sites from early-20th-century gold-mining operations mark the banks in places.Washington Post, 30 Apr. 2022 The giant dredge operated in the Goldstream Valley between 1928 and 1959. Scott Mcmurren, Anchorage Daily News, 30 Apr. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun and Verb (1)
perhaps from Old English *drecge; akin to Old English dræge dragnet, dragan to draw
Verb (2)
obsolete dredge, noun, sweetmeat, from Middle English drage, drege, from Anglo-French dragee, modification of Latin tragemata sweetmeats, from Greek tragēmata, plural of tragēma sweetmeat, from trōgein to gnaw