Also called dredging machine. any of various powerful machines for dredging up or removing earth, as from the bottom of a river, by means of a scoop, a series of buckets, a suction pipe, or the like.

a barge on which such a machine is mounted.

a dragnet or other contrivance for gathering material or objects from the bottom of a river, bay, etc.

to clear out with a dredge; remove sand, silt, mud, etc., from the bottom of.

to take, catch, or gather with a dredge; obtain or remove by a dredge.

to use a dredge. ?

dredge up,

to unearth or bring to notice

We dredged up some old toys from the bottom of the trunk.

to locate and reveal by painstaking investigation or search

Biographers excel at dredging up little known facts.

verb

bring up , clean , dig up , raise , unearth , widen , coat , deepen , dig , drag , excavate , fish , net , scoop , sift