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

This churning involves the storms dredging up ammonia in some places and hurling it far into the Jovian depths as slushy hailstones in others. —Kiona N. Smith, Space.com, 3 Apr. 2025

Throughout the picture, Shula and other girls are told not to dredge up the past, or do anything that could harm their extended family’s unity and stability. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 7 Mar. 2025

But rather than raise alarm, her listless demeanor ends up dredging up difficult conversations with her mother (Betty Buckley), her friends (Samantha Mathis and Robin Tunney) and later still with a creepy, stalking neighbor (Clifton Collins Jr.). —Manuel Betancourt, Variety, 8 Feb. 2025

What dredged up memories are about to explode all over Alden’s life? —Sara Netzley, EW.com, 10 Dec. 2024

Rhymes for dredge up

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