Dredge Means Two Different Things in the Kitchen and the Harbour
To dredge is to scoop material from a riverbed, or to coat food in flour. The two words are unrelated.
To dredge is to clear a channel by scooping material from the bottom. A separate word with the same spelling belongs to cooking: to dredge food is to coat it lightly in flour or sugar, from an old word for a sweetened mixture. Harbour and kitchen share the letters and nothing else.
- To scoop from a waterbed. *Dredge the channel.*
- To coat with flour. *Dredge the fish.*
- Dredge up — to raise an old matter. *Dredging up the past.*
- A dredger — the vessel. *A working dredger.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | dredge | Dredge the harbour. |
| Past | dredged | Recently dredged. |
| Noun | dredger | A suction dredger. |
| Phrasal | dredge up | Dredge up an old row. |
| Related | dredging | Channel dredging. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The port is dredged every few years.To keep it navigable.
- Dredge the chicken in seasoned flour.Cooking.
- Why dredge that up now?Raise an old grievance.
Why harbours need dredging
- Siltation — rivers deposit sediment continuously
- Draught — modern ships need deeper water than older ones
- Spoil — the removed material must be disposed of somewhere
- Environmental impact — dredging disturbs habitats and can release buried pollutants
- Maintenance dredging — routine work to keep an existing depth
The nautical word is of uncertain origin, possibly Scottish. The cooking word comes from Middle English *dragge*, a sweetened spice mixture.
Are the two dredges related?
No. The harbour word and the kitchen word have separate origins and merely share a spelling.
What does *dredge up* mean?
To bring an old and usually unwelcome matter back to attention, as a dredger raises material from the bottom.