dredge up
phrasal verb
dredged up; dredging up; dredges up
: to start talking or thinking again about (something unpleasant that happened a long time ago)
Reporters dredged up the fact that the senator avoided the military draft.
She didn't like to dredge up bad memories.
Examples of dredge up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
There was concern among some Harris supporters in Hollywood, that her critics would try to hurt her candidacy by dredging up attacks about her personal life.
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Keli Goff, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Oct. 2024
Three minor penalties later, the Sharks were down by three goals and failed to slow down the onslaught in an 8-3 loss to the Jets, dredging up some bad memories in what was easily San Jose’s most lopsided loss of the season.
—Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 18 Oct. 2024
The sheer amount of debris dredged up from waterways and piled on curbs is staggering.
—Kathryn Varn, Axios, 4 Oct. 2024
Pluto’s station direct dredges up old ghosts from your past, Mars continues stirring the pot for you professionally, and the full moon on October 17 puts you on the defensive as a confrontation reaches its boiling point.
—Steph Koyfman, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for dredge up 
Keli Goff, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Oct. 2024
Three minor penalties later, the Sharks were down by three goals and failed to slow down the onslaught in an 8-3 loss to the Jets, dredging up some bad memories in what was easily San Jose’s most lopsided loss of the season.
—Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 18 Oct. 2024
The sheer amount of debris dredged up from waterways and piled on curbs is staggering.
—Kathryn Varn, Axios, 4 Oct. 2024
Pluto’s station direct dredges up old ghosts from your past, Mars continues stirring the pot for you professionally, and the full moon on October 17 puts you on the defensive as a confrontation reaches its boiling point.
—Steph Koyfman, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for dredge up
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dredge up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Dredge up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dredge%20up. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
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