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
Battling the debilitating symptoms of a late-stage brain tumor, his grasp on reality becomes increasingly fragile, and as the unlikely duo sets out on the run, old memories blur with the present, dredging up dark secrets from his past.
—
Matt Grobar, Deadline, 24 Oct. 2025
At one point, Jonah encourages Morgan to hurl eggs at a piece of art that dredges up painful memories.
—Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
It is written in an almost stream-of-consciousness style, rather like someone reluctantly dredging up their memories, with random thoughts interrupting the narrative, long sentences sometimes running to over a page, little punctuation, and peppered with Kobe dialect.
—Ginny Tapley Takemori
september 4, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
The country has already dredged up 70 percent of China's total 2,300 acres and, like China, has begun to add defensive structures, airfields and harbors at several features.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dredge up
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Matt Grobar, Deadline, 24 Oct. 2025
At one point, Jonah encourages Morgan to hurl eggs at a piece of art that dredges up painful memories.
—Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
It is written in an almost stream-of-consciousness style, rather like someone reluctantly dredging up their memories, with random thoughts interrupting the narrative, long sentences sometimes running to over a page, little punctuation, and peppered with Kobe dialect.
—Ginny Tapley Takemori
september 4, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
The country has already dredged up 70 percent of China's total 2,300 acres and, like China, has begun to add defensive structures, airfields and harbors at several features.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 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 4 Nov. 2025.
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