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
One of these items is a drill that will plunge three feet into the lunar ground, dredging up a small pile of soil.
—
Ella Jeffries, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Feb. 2025
But as the battle to save Ransom wages on, a mysterious cowboy drifts into town, dredging up secrets from the past.
—Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 24 June 2025
But Cabrera’s candidacy was thwarted after an investigation by the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser’s Office — which is headed by Tomás Regalado — dredged up residency issues for the would-be candidate.
—Tess Riski, Miami Herald, 22 May 2025
Fishermen working off the coast of Taiwan long have dredged up the bones of ancient animals — elephants, water buffalo and hyenas — in their nets, relics of an ice age past when sea levels were lower and the ocean channel was a land bridge.
—Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 10 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dredge up
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Ella Jeffries, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Feb. 2025
But as the battle to save Ransom wages on, a mysterious cowboy drifts into town, dredging up secrets from the past.
—Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 24 June 2025
But Cabrera’s candidacy was thwarted after an investigation by the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser’s Office — which is headed by Tomás Regalado — dredged up residency issues for the would-be candidate.
—Tess Riski, Miami Herald, 22 May 2025
Fishermen working off the coast of Taiwan long have dredged up the bones of ancient animals — elephants, water buffalo and hyenas — in their nets, relics of an ice age past when sea levels were lower and the ocean channel was a land bridge.
—Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 10 Apr. 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 13 Jul. 2025.
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