dredge up

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

No need to watch the dreadful first film to prepare (although clips are, of course, easy to dredge up on YouTube). —Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026

As the unlikely duo sets out on the run, old memories blur with the present, dredging up dark secrets from his past. —Matt Grobar, Deadline, 6 Apr. 2026

Those suits not only dredged up dark secrets dating back years but also laid the foundation for their federal criminal case. —Miami Herald, 9 Mar. 2026

Less than a mile away, the corps is planning to deepen and widen the shipping channel leading into Port Everglades, blasting through the reef line and dredging up sediment that could smother acres of surrounding coral, according to federal scientists. —Arkansas Online, 8 Mar. 2026

Rhymes for dredge up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup