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🚜 A digging machine 🚜 To clear underwater 🍗 To coat with flour
to dredge

to dredge

12 6.6
To remove mud and sand from the bottom of rivers or harbours using machines
  • verb
  • /drɛdʒ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : dragar
  • Demonstrating undying devotion to their craft, scientists ship out to the deep ocean to dredge up sediments for study.
  • dredged channel
  • dredged material
  • dredged oysters

Examples

  • Wetlands have also been dredged or filled to make room for urban and industrial developments, including harbors.

    Academic text (1993)

  • If the third-largest port in the U.S. is too shallow, then dredge we must, says the Corps of Engineers.

    Academic text (2003)

  • We'll dredge the sea bed until we find them.

    Wheely (2018)

  • Did anyone think to dredge the lake?

    The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

  • Bouc, tell the captain to dredge the river around the ship.

    Death on the Nile (2022)

  • And then when they find the plane, they'll dredge the water around the crash site first.

    Crocodile 2: Death Roll (2002)

  • The harbor can only be dredged to 20 feet.

    Alexander (2004)

  • Now beach towns buy dredged harbor sand to ship and dump.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Fishermen could dredge only from November through February when the clams were dormant.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The workers will dredge the muddy riverbed to search for the lost treasure.

Synonyms

to dig
vsto dredge
912 1.0

To move earth with a tool to make a hole

is for water bottoms and uses specialized gear rather than normal hand tools
to dig up
vsto dredge
139 2.0

To take something out of the ground by digging

works specifically underwater using special equipment to clear or search the bottom
to dig out
vsto dredge
14 3.2

Remove something that is under the ground or snow using a shovel

focuses on underwater removal or searching, not freeing items under coverings

Antonyms

to fill
∞ 1.0

To make a place full by putting people or things into it

Phrasal Verbs

to dredge up
18 6.2

To mention an unpleasant or forgotten memory from the past

How Thorough

to excavate
10 6.0
to clear out
91 3.1
to dredge
  • Specialized
12 6.6
to probe
23 4.6
to scan
127 2.7

Surface Forms

dredge infinitive
dredged past
dredged past participle
dredging present participle
dredges third person singular

Etymology

Dredge probably comes from an old word like drag meaning 'to pull', so imagine dragging a scoop along the river bottom to lift out mud and sand. That's why to dredge means to remove mud, silt, or other material from the bottom of water.