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

The flick follows an elder antique trader who dredges up a 500-year-old artifact that invigorates him with youth but has the unfortunate side effect of turning him into a vampire. — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026

But the offer of a big movie deal has Ivalu stuck between two worlds as an indie Canadian producer, The Quiet Loud, encourages her to dredge up a childhood trauma to boost future box office. — Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 4 Oct. 2026

The executions have dredged up old wounds and memories but Hastings is focused on honoring her sister's life. — Swasti Singhai, USA Today, 22 Sep. 2026

When their bodies are finally dredged up, very often, their zippers are down. — Tribune Content Agency, Baltimore Sun, 25 Aug. 2026

Rhymes for dredge up

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