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
Peg's death has dredged up those memories.
—
David Oliver, USA Today, 21 Nov. 2025
In the wake of the Kirk assassination, Elon Musk took to his X to call for Piker’s cancellation, dredging up past comments that walked up to the line.
—Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 13 Nov. 2025
But this film also revived a wound that the city of Salem would have preferred to cover over entirely, dredging up everything about the Rideouts all over again.
—Sarah Weinman, Rolling Stone, 9 Nov. 2025
Currently, Americans are drinking less alcohol than ever—only 54 percent of people consume booze, a 90-year low—which dredges up quite a few problems for the wine industry at large.
—Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 8 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dredge up
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
David Oliver, USA Today, 21 Nov. 2025
In the wake of the Kirk assassination, Elon Musk took to his X to call for Piker’s cancellation, dredging up past comments that walked up to the line.
—Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 13 Nov. 2025
But this film also revived a wound that the city of Salem would have preferred to cover over entirely, dredging up everything about the Rideouts all over again.
—Sarah Weinman, Rolling Stone, 9 Nov. 2025
Currently, Americans are drinking less alcohol than ever—only 54 percent of people consume booze, a 90-year low—which dredges up quite a few problems for the wine industry at large.
—Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 8 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dredge up
Cite this Entry
“Dredge up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dredge%20up. Accessed 25 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share