dredge

¹

[ drej ]

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

, dredged, dredg·ing.

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, dredg·ing.

1. to use a dredge.

verb phrase

1. 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

[ drej ]

verb (used with object)

, Cooking.

, dredged, dredg·ing.

1. to sprinkle or coat with some powdered substance, especially flour.

dredge

¹

/ drɛdʒ /

verb

1. to sprinkle or coat (food) with flour, sugar, etc

dredge

²

/ drɛdʒ /

noun

1. Also calleddredger a machine, in the form of a bucket ladder, grab, or suction device, used to remove material from a riverbed, channel, etc
2. See dredger
   another name for dredger 1

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

Word History and Origins

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 ); 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of dredge¹

C16: from Old French dragie, perhaps from Latin tragēmata spices, from Greek

Origin of dredge²

C16: perhaps ultimately from Old English dragan to draw ; see drag

Example Sentences

Among the necessary permits that have been the subject of much controversy is a federal Clean Water Act “dredge and fill” permit.

From ProPublica

In some areas, small specially-designed dredges are used by recreational harvesters, with the size and shape of such dredges designated by state laws.

From Popular-Science

In 1875, during an expedition for the Royal Society of London, the HMS Challenger dredged up 4-inch-long teeth from a depth of 14,000 feet near Tahiti.

From Popular-Science

Microsoft’s Special Projects team operated the underwater data center for two years, and it took a full day to dredge it up and bring it to the surface.

From Singularity Hub 

His team dredged sand from Delaware Bay, using it to rebuild two miles of beach.

From Science News For Students

Remove some shallots from the buttermilk and dredge in the seasoned flour mixture.

From The Daily Beast

They get $8 million to dredge the channel for pleasure boats to sail to Catalina Island.

From The Daily Beast

Let me go ahead and dredge this up before someone else does.

From The Daily Beast

Perhaps some of them might dredge up some outrage over the message behind what Karzai did to the United States yesterday.

From The Daily Beast

This whole project could be fruitful and dredge up even more dirt on Nixon.

From The Daily Beast

Dredge in a very little flour, and send up the ducks with the sauce round them.

From Project Gutenberg

Cut up a pound of rump steak into pieces about an inch in size, season, and dredge them lightly with flour.

From Project Gutenberg

It is just that I wonder if you want me to dredge this deeply into things I cannot be absolutely certain about.

From Project Gutenberg

Hunter with the small hand-dredge brought up abundant samples of life from depths ranging to fifty fathoms.

From Project Gutenberg

On September 14 Bickerton started to construct a hand-dredge, which was ready for use by the next evening.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• clean
• widen