Meaning & use
dredge
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Meanings
verbtransitivetechnical
To remove mud, sand, or debris from the bottom of a river, harbor, canal, or lake.
Grammar: Takes an object naming the waterway or material; ships dredge a channel, not dredge in a channel.
Patterns
- dredge a harbor
- dredge the channel
Crews dredge the harbor every few years to keep shipping lanes open.
They dredged silt from the canal before the festival boats arrived.
verbtransitive
To coat food lightly with flour, sugar, or crumbs before cooking.
Grammar: Takes the food as object; common pattern is dredge something in something.
Patterns
- dredge chicken in flour
- dredge with sugar
Dredge the chicken in seasoned flour before frying.
She dredged the berries with sugar and chilled them for an hour.
verbphrasal verbfigurative
To bring up something unwanted from the past, especially memories or scandal.
Grammar: Used with up: dredge up old memories; often negative or intrusive.
Patterns
- dredge up memories
- dredge up the past
The article dredged up mistakes from a decade ago.
Please do not dredge up that argument at dinner.
Word forms
| third person singular | dredges |
|---|---|
| past tense | dredged |
| past participle | dredged |
| -ing form | dredging |
Common combinations
- dredge a channel
- Engineers dredge a channel so larger boats can enter safely.
- dredge in flour
- Dredge the fish in flour right before it hits the pan.
- dredge up the past
- He apologized for dredging up the past during the meeting.
Synonyms and how they differ
- excavate
- Excavate means dig out earth or remains; dredge specifically works underwater or along water bottoms.
- coat
- Coat is general cooking coverage; dredge suggests a light even dusting before cooking.
- unearth
- For figurative use, unearth means discover; dredge up emphasizes dragging back something unpleasant.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: dredge or drudge?
dredge vs drudge
Drudge means boring hard work or a person who does it; dredge involves scooping or a light food coating.
Practice
Which sentence uses “dredge” correctly for cooking?
Choose one answer.
Cooking uses “dredge something in a dry coating.” The river sense and “dredge up memories” cannot take flour as an ingredient.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dredge”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.