I. ˈdrej, ˈdrəj noun
( -s )
Etymology: alteration of Middle English dragge, draggeye, from Middle French dragie mixture of grains grown as a forage crop, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin (of Gaul) dravocata, from Gaulish dravoca darnel; akin to Middle English tare vetch — more at tare
dialect Britain : mixed grains sown together ; especially : a mixture of oats and barley grown together for making malt
II. ˈdrej, chiefly dial ˈdrəj noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: probably alteration of Scots dreg- (in the compound dregbot dredge boat), from Middle English (Scots) dreg-, perhaps irregular from the root of Old English dragan to pull — more at draw
1. : an implement or machine for scooping or digging objects or earth from the bed of a body of water:
a. : an oblong iron frame with a bag net attached or a similiar apparatus for gathering fish, shellfish, or natural history specimens
b. : a machine for scooping up or removing earth (as in excavating or deepening stream or harbor channels, building levees, or digging ditches) usually by a series of buckets on an endless chain, a pump or suction tube, or a single bucket or grab at the end of an arm — see dipper dredge , hydraulic dredge ; compare dragline 2
2. : a boat or barge used in dredging
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1.
a. : to catch, gather, or pull out with a dredge — often used with up
silt and old refuse were dredged up from the river bottom — Green Peyton
b. : to bring to light or gather by deep searching as if with a dredge — often used with up
facts dredged from the records
I tried to dredge up a little of that deep, involuntary wisdom that tells you what to do in a critical situation — Anne S. Mehdevi
c. : to make a search of or dig into deeply with or as if with a dredge
the harbor still is being dredged for boats sunk — Springfield (Massachusetts) Union
dredging his memories and finding them intolerable — Time
2. : to deepen with a dredging machine : excavate with a dredge
dredged a cutoff three blocks long … where the river swings eastward in a wide semicircle — Green Peyton
intransitive verb
: to use a dredge : to search with or as if with a dredge
dredging for oysters
he dredged into himself for words — Oliver La Farge
IV. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: obsolete dredge, n., sweetmeat, from Middle English drege, alteration of drage, from Middle French dragie, dragee, modification of Latin tragemata (plural) sweetmeats, from Greek tragēmata, plural of tragēmattragēma sweetmeat, dried fruit
: to sprinkle with a powdered substance: as
a. : to coat (food) by sprinkling (as with flour or sugar)
b. : to dust (hot ware) with dry enamel powder in dry process enameling
V. noun
( -s )
: a box or package attachment with holes for sprinkling or sifting the contents