as in searching
to look through (as a place) carefully or thoroughly in an effort to find or discover something
I've been dredging my memory bank, and I simply can't remember her name
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Recent Examples of dredging
In the legend, Yu, a heroic figure, saved Chinese civilization from decades of devastating floods by dredging rivers and waterways.
—
Literary Hub, 15 Dec. 2025
Pickleball courts, golf course to remain open Plans for the project include dredging the lake, repairing the concrete and foundation at the dam, and replacing a culvert near Flatwoods Road Cove with a bridge.
—Jolene Almendarez, Cincinnati Enquirer, 25 Sep. 2025
The project would extend Osceola's slack-water harbor by 3,000 feet by dredging out 620,000 cubic yards of material.
—Arkansas Online, 18 Sep. 2025
The fact that Ryan Murphy’s American Love Story is shooting in the neighborhood is dredging everything back up again.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
The changes a deepwater port could bring The Army Corps of Engineers this month issued a $400 million contract to begin the first phase of the port project, which will ultimately include dredging sediment from the ocean so bigger ships can dock.
—Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2025
Additional land could come from dredging the lake.
—Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2025
Or she’d fry okra after dredging it in fine cornmeal.
—Anne Byrn, Southern Living, 19 Aug. 2025
It would be leaked to Seymour Hersh in 1974; by then, the man who had pulled the report together for Schlesinger, William Colby, was DCI, but Schlesinger was blamed for dredging it all up in the first place.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 1 Apr. 2020
Literary Hub, 15 Dec. 2025
Pickleball courts, golf course to remain open Plans for the project include dredging the lake, repairing the concrete and foundation at the dam, and replacing a culvert near Flatwoods Road Cove with a bridge.
—Jolene Almendarez, Cincinnati Enquirer, 25 Sep. 2025
The project would extend Osceola's slack-water harbor by 3,000 feet by dredging out 620,000 cubic yards of material.
—Arkansas Online, 18 Sep. 2025
The fact that Ryan Murphy’s American Love Story is shooting in the neighborhood is dredging everything back up again.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
The changes a deepwater port could bring The Army Corps of Engineers this month issued a $400 million contract to begin the first phase of the port project, which will ultimately include dredging sediment from the ocean so bigger ships can dock.
—Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2025
Additional land could come from dredging the lake.
—Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2025
Or she’d fry okra after dredging it in fine cornmeal.
—Anne Byrn, Southern Living, 19 Aug. 2025
It would be leaked to Seymour Hersh in 1974; by then, the man who had pulled the report together for Schlesinger, William Colby, was DCI, but Schlesinger was blamed for dredging it all up in the first place.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 1 Apr. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dredging
Verb
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His family spent an agonizing week searching through morgues, hospitals and detention facilities before finally identifying his body among piles of corpses, also shown in the viral footage.—
Emma Bussey,
FOXNews.com,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Police are searching for a suspect after a Florida Memorial University student was raped on campus early Sunday morning, according to Miami Gardens police.—
Anna McAllister,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The male has binoculars scanning the sea, while the female guard is in action, as if jumping off of a tower, fins and buoy in hand.—
Laylan Connelly,
Oc Register,
24 Jan. 2026
-
Don't let somebody coerce you into scanning them up on the floor, because everybody's trying to get to Coach Prime.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
24 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Matthew Smith, surveying the audience, knows they are locked in.—
Matt Woosnam,
New York Times,
23 Jan. 2026
-
While many Americans use drones for fun, racing them competitively or using them to capture sweeping panoramic videos, many have grown to rely on the cheap drones for business purposes — from surveying whale blowholes to pollinating cornfields.—
Jared Perlo,
NBC news,
18 Jan. 2026
Verb
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By Jon Krawczynski The Timberwolves have been combing the trade market for weeks, evaluating possibilities both big and small.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
16 Jan. 2026
-
Petro sat in a favorite leather armchair, dressed comfortably in sneakers, slacks, and a white cardigan; a female assistant was combing his hair.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
15 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Los Angeles’s tight ends’ success in finding paydirt against Seattle could come into play again this week.—
Josh Shepardson,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
-
The idea behind genetic genealogy is to take DNA from a crime scene and enter it into a publicly accessible genealogy DNA database in hopes of finding a close enough match to relatives of the unknown perpetrator.—
Teri Figueroa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Burrow, who spoke with media after the Bengals lost 18-20 to the Cleveland Browns, seemed bothered by his 'do from the start, sitting down at the mic and instantly raking his lengthy bangs back with his hands.—
Skyler Caruso,
PEOPLE,
5 Jan. 2026
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Cover the seed with a very thin layer of soil, approximately 1/8 inch thick, by gently raking the area.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
31 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dredging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dredging. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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