dredging

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
dredge1

▶verb

• 1 clean out the bed of (a harbour, river, etc.) with a dredge.

  ■ bring up or remove with a dredge.

• 2 (dredge something up) bring something unwelcome and forgotten to people's attention.

▶noun an apparatus for bringing up objects or mud from a river or seabed by scooping or dragging.

– derivatives
dredger noun.

– origin C15 (orig. in dredge-boat): perh. rel. to MDu. dregghe ‘grappling hook’.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
dredge2

▶verb sprinkle (food) with sugar or another powdered substance.

– origin C16: from obs. dredge ‘sweetmeat, mixture of spices’, from OFr. dragie, perh. via L. from Gk tragēmata ‘spices’.