dree 
2. A boat or vessel used in dredging. 
We . . . had sight of a brigandine or a dredger, which 
the general tooke within one houres chase with his two 
barges. Hakluyt's Voyages, 111. 586. 
^ ,. 3. A dredging-machine. 
'.reamy virtues of this kind he turned with some- dredefult a. A Middle English form of dread- dredger 2 (drej'er), n. [< dredge^ + -er 1 .] A 
3 distaste. Talfourd, Cl ;s Lamb. M dredging-box. 
A Middle English form of dread- dredgerman (drej'er-man), . ; pi. dredgermen 
(-men). One engaged in dredging. 
"&"! "Warner, Their Pilgrimage, p. 123. dreder (dred'er), n. [Sc., also dredour, dridder, 
drear (drer), a. [An abbrev. of dreary, q. v.] d f^ a PP ar ' < dread > v ^ 
What aileth you, my daughter Janet, 
You look sae pale and wan ? 
There is a dreder in your heart, 
Or else ye love a man. 
Lord Thomas of Winesberry (Child's Ballads, IV. 305). 
dreamy 1766 
2. Having the characteristics of a dream; ,=8^1 and 2. Cheerless, comfortless, drear, dark.-3. 
consisting of or resembling idle imaginations; dreccnet ,,. g e e dretck 1 , dretch?. 
dream-like ; vague ; indistinct ; visionary : as, dredt dredet ' and n. Middle English forms barges, 
he led a dreamy existence. o f ( j,! eaa _ ^ 3. A 
From drei 
thing like distaste. jayo-ura, viuuico i,amM. 
The atmosphere was not too clear on the horizon for -iL.!i p i.o+ ,. 
dreamy effects; all the headlands were softened and areaeiesT, . 
tinged with opalescent colors. 
Dreary. [Poetical.] 
In urns and altars round, 
A drear and dying sound 
Affrights the Flamens at their service quaint. 
Milton, Nativity, 1. 193. 
A drear northeastern storm came howling up. 
Whittier, Bridal of Pennacook. dredge 1 (drej), n. [Formerly sometimes written 
dreart (drer), n. [Made by Spenser from 
drudge; of LG. origin, perhaps through OF 
drege, dreige, a kind of net used for catching 
In these courts they appoint . . . the quantity [of oys- 
ters] each Dredtjerman shall take in a day, which is usually 
called Setting the Stint. 
Defoe, Tour through Great Britain, I. 150. 
dredgie (drej'i), n. Same as dirgie. [Scotch.] 
dredging (drej'ing), n. [Verbal n. of dredge^, 
v.] 1. The act of using a dredge. 
Most of our coasts produce them [oysters] naturally, 
and in such places they are taken by dredging, and are 
become an article of commerce, both raw and pickled. 
Pennant, Brit. Zoology, The Oyster. 
dreary a ] Dread; dismalness; grief; sor- drege, dreige, a kind of net used tor catcmng -. 
row- dreadfulness. oysters (cf. mod. F. drogue, < E. drag, n.),< OD. 2. The matter or material brought up by 
' ' .) 7,- T* ,/,.,,,,/ M o^ n rlfatlfYa a. rlvaof-Tlpt. fPA r\Tt*f\rr& 
The ill-faste Owle, deaths dreadful! messengere ; 
The hoars Night-raven, trump of dolefull drere. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. xii. 36. 
He to him stepping neare, 
Right in the flanke him strooke with deadly dreare. 
Spenser, F. Q., V. xii. 20. 
dreariheadt, drearihoodt (drer'i-hed, -hud), n. 
[False forms, made by Spenser, < dreary -t 
-liead,-hood,] Dreariness; dismalness; gloomi- 
ness. 
What evill plight 
Hath thee opprest, and with sad drearyhead 
Chaunged thy lively cheare ? 
Spenser, F. Q., III. ii. 30. 
But Fury was full ill apparelled 
In rags, that naked nigh she did appeare, 
With ghastly looks and dreadfull drerihed. 
Spenser, F. Q., III. xii. 17. 
drearily (drer'i-li). adv. [< ME. drerily, dreri- 
liche, dreoriliche ; < dreary + -fy 2 .] In a dreary 
manner; dismally; forlornly. 
A queer inner court, befouled with rubbish and drearily 
bare of convenience. //. James, Jr., Trans. Sketches, p. 149. 
drearimentt (drer'i-ment), n. [A false form, 
made by Spenser, < dreary + -ment.] Dismal- 
ness ; terror ; horror ; dread. 
To sadder times thou mayst attune thy quill, 
And sing of sorrowe and deathes dreeriment. 
Spenser, Hhep. Cal., November. 
dreariness (drer'i-nes), . 1. The state or char- 
acter of being dreary. 2f. Sorrow. 
Let be thi wepynge and thy drerinesse. 
Chaucer, Troilus, i. 701. 
drearingt (drer'ing), n. [A false form, made by 
Spenser, < drear^y + -ing.] Dreariness; gloom. 
All were my self, through griefe, in deadly drearing. 
Spenser, Daphna'ida, 1. 189. 
drearisomet (drer'i-sum), a. [< dreary + 
-some.] Very dreary; gloomy; desolate; for- 
lorn. 
dreary (drer'i), a. [Early mod. E. also drearie, 
drery, drerie; < ME. drery, dreri, dreori, drury, 
< AS. dredrig, sad, mournful. AS. dredrig also 
means bloody, gory, = OS. drorag = Icel. drey- 
rigr = MHG. troric, bloody, < AS. dredr = OS. 
dror = Icel. dreyri, drori = MHG. tror, blood, 
gore, < AS. dreosan (=Goth. driusan, etc.), fall, 
whence ult. E. dross and drizzle, q. v. But the 
sense 'sad' is prob. reached from another di- 
rection: OHG. *trurag, trureg, MHG. trurec, G. 
traurig, whence prob. LG. trurig, D. treurig 
(with HG. t), sad, mournful, connected with 
OHG. truren, cast down the eyes, mourn, MHG. 
trwen, G. trauern, mourn, orig. cause to fall, 
causative of the orig. verb, Goth, driusan, etc., 
above.] If. Sorrowful; sad. 
Thus praied thai all with drery steuyn, 
Heueand up thaire heuides till heuyn. 
Holy Rood (E. E. T. S.), p. 129. 
They renue the funeral! pompe of these great men yearly, 
dredge. 
It is not a little curious that these two forms should 
present themselves in the same dredging. 
W. B. Carpenter, Micros., 474. 
merlydrudgmg-box; <dredging + 6ox 2 .] Asmall 
box, usually of tin, with a perforated top, used 
to sprinkle flour on roasting meat, on a knead- 
ing-board, etc. Also dredge-box. 
Cuts of the basting-ladles, dripping-pans, and drudging- 
boxes &c., lately dug up at Rome, out of an old subterra- 
nean scullery. King, Art of Cookery, v. 
dredging-machine (drej'ing-ma-shen"), n. An 
apparatus for lifting mud and silt from the bot- 
toms of rivers, harbors, canals, etc. Some dredg- 
ing-machines employ a single bivalve or clam-shell scoop ; 
others a series of scoops on an endless chain ; others some 
form of suction apparatus. The earliest form appears to 
have been a single box-like shovel or spoon, suspended 
from a crane rigged up on a large flat-boat. It was low- 
ered into the mud, dragged along by means of ropes till 
filled, and then raised and emptied into the boat. An- 
other early form is the chapelet or chain-pump, which, by 
means of an endless chain carrying buckets traveling in 
a trough, lifts mud and water, discharging them at the 
top into a flat alongside the machine. On this plan are 
now built some of the largest and most powerful dredging- 
machines in use. They consist of large, flat-bottomed 
draglie, D. dreg(-net), a dredge, a drag-net (see 
drag-net and dray 1 ) ; cf . D. dreg = LG. dregge, 
dragge = Dan. drceg Sw. dragg, a grapnel, 
drag. The form dredge is practically an assibi- 
lationof drag,n., ult. < drag, v.: see drag.] 1. dredging-box (drej'ing-boks), n. 
A bush-harrow; a large rake. [Prov. Eng.] 
2. Any instrument for bringing up or removing 
solid substances from under water by dragging 
on the bottom, (a) A drag-net for taking oysters, etc. 
The oysters . . . haue a peculiar dredge; which is a 
thick strong net, fastened to three spils of iron, and 
drawne at the boates sterne gathering whatsoeuer it meet- 
eth lying in the bottome of the water. 
R. Carew, Survey of Cornwall, fol. 30. 
(6) An apparatus for bringing up marine animals, plants, 
and other objects from the bottom of the sea for scientific 
investigation. It consists principally of a frame of iron 
and a net which is attached to the frame. As generally 
constructed, the frame is transversely oblong, generally 
about three times as long as wide, with straight ends and 
slightly inclined sides, having the outer edges sharp to 
serve as scrapers. The net is usually composed of heavy 
twine, but sometimes of iron chainwork, and is attached 
to the frame by holes near the inner edges. Fastened to 
the frame are iron handles, to which a rope or iron chain 
is attached, (c) A machine for clearing the beds of canals, 
rivers, harbors, etc. See dredging-machine. 
3. In ore-dressing, in certain mining districts 
of England, ore which is intermediate in rich- 
ness between "prill-ore" and "halvans"; ore 
of second quality, more or less intermixed with 
veinstone. Sometimes written dradge. 
dredge 1 (drej), v. ; pret. and pp. dredged, ppr. 
dredging. [< dredge 1 , n.] I. trans. 1. To clear 
out with a dredge; remove sand, silt, mud, etc., 
from the bottom of: as, to dredge a harbor, 
river, or canal. 2. To take, catch, or gather 
with a dredge ; obtain or remove by the use of 
a dredge : as, to dredge mud from a river. 
A Oaryophyllia which was dredged up alive by Captain 
King. Darwin, Coral Reefs, p. 116. 
II. intrans. To make use of a dredge ; oper- 
ate with a dredge : as, to dredge for oysters. 
dredge 2 (drej), n. [Also dradge; assibilated 
from earlier dreg, < ME. dragg, dragge, drage, a 
mixture of different kinds of grain or pulse, mes- 
lin; the same as ME. dragge, dradge, dragy, a 
kind of digestive and stomachic comfit, < OF. 
dragie, dragee, a kind of digestive powder, acorn- 
fit, sweetmeat, also small shot, etc., mod. F. 
dragee, a sugar-plum, small shot, meslin, < Pr. 
dragea = Sp. grajea = Pg. grageia, grangea = 
It. traggea, now treggea, comfits, sugar-plums, 
sweetmeats (ML. dragetum, dragata, drageia, 
dragia, after OF.), < ML. tragemata, pi., < Gr. 
Tpayr/iiaTa, rarely in sing, rpayrnia, dried fruits 
or sweetmeats eaten as dessert, < rpayelv, 2d 
aor. of rpuyeiv, gnaw, nibble, munch, eat.] For- 
merly, same as meslin; now, specifically, a mix- 
ture of oats and barley sown together. 
Thy dredge and thy barley go thresh out to malt. Tu 
h all "night (Specially' ttiT^menT^nglng dredge 3 (drej), v. t. ; pret. and pp. dredged, ppr. 
dredging. [Formerly dreg; E. dial, dridge; <. 
dredge 1 *, n.] To sprinkle flour upon, as roast- 
ing meat. 
Burnt figs dreg'd with meal and powdered sugar. 
Beau, and Fl., Scornful Lady, ii. 3. 
drerie lamentations. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 822. 
2. Lonesomely dismal or gloomy ; exciting a 
feeling of desolation, sadness, or gloom. 
The messenger of death, the ghastly owl, 
With dreary shrieks did also yell. Spenser, F. Q. 
The breakers were right beneath her bows, 
She drifted a dreary wreck. 
Longfellow, Wreck of the Hesperus. dredge-bOX (drej'boks), n. 
On the ridge of the slope [was] an old cemetery, so dreary g ame as dredging-box. 
with its few hopeless fig-trees and aloes that it made the - - - - - 
heart ache to look at it. 
T. B. Aldrich, Ponkapog to Pesth, p. 245. 
Hence 3. Exciting a feeling of tedium or en- 
nui ; tiresomely monotonous : as, a dreary book. 
Dredge you a dish of plovers. 
Fletcher (and others), Bloody Brother, ii. 2. 
Steam Dredging-machine. 
boats, usually of iron, with a bucket-chain carrying near- 
ly 40 buckets, each with a capacity of about 13 cubic feet. 
In excavating the Suez canal, the lifting buckets of some 
of the larger machines had a capacity of 5 cubic feet each, 
and the delivery was 20 buckets a min ute. For the deliv- 
ery of the sand or spoil both chutes and traveling buckets 
were used, the spoil being, in some instances, delivered 
230 feet from the dredger. The clam-shell dredger is 
largely used in the United States, and has the merit of 
ease of management, the scoop operating in a half-circle 
about the boat, so that a wide channel can be excavated 
without moving the boat. The scoop is suspended from a 
crane at the bow of the boat, and is operated by means of 
chains controlled by steam-power, two long flexible poles 
serving as guides for the clam-shell. In the machines em- 
ploying a suction or exhaust, a tube is lowered into the 
mud and the mud and water are raised by means of a re- 
volving disk in the tube, or by the aid of a vacuum or an 
ejector. A large vessel on the boat, being exhausted of 
air, is connected with the submerged pipe, when the mud 
and water readily rise into the receiver. In another form of 
pneumatic dredgera pipe is lowered into the silt and closed 
air-tight, and steam is then turned into the upper part of 
the pipe, driving out the air. Many other forms are useci. 
Dred Scot case. See case 1 . 
dree 1 (dre), . [< ME. dreen, dreien, dryeii, 
drehen, dregen, dreghen, dreogen, < AS. dreogan, 
bear, suffer, endure, also do, perform, = Goth. 
driugan, do military service; cf. Icel. drygja 
(a secondary form), connect, perpetrate, also 
lengthen: see dree%. Cf. also dright.] I. trans. 
To suffer; bear; endure: as, to dree penance. 
[Now only Scotch or poetical.] 
For what I drye or what I thinke, 
I wil myselveii al it drynke. 
Chaucer, House of Fame, 1. 1879. 
[< dredge^ + box^.~\ Why dreghis thou this dole, & deris thi seluyn? 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 3586. 
Chaucer is the first who broke away from the dreary 
traditional style, and gave not merely stories, but lively 
pictures of real life as the ever renewed substance of 
poetry. Lowell, Study Windows, p. 255. 
dredgeman (drej ' man), n. ; pi. dredgemen 
(-men). [< dredge^ + man.'] One who fishes 
for oysters with a dredge. 
dredger 1 (drej'er), n. [< dredge^ + -er 1 .] 1. 
One who works with or makes use of a dredge. 
In the month of May, the dredgers (by the law of the 
Admiralty court) have liberty to catch all manner of oys- 
ters, of what size soever. Bp. Sprat, Hist. Royal Soc. 
Ye have the pains o' hell to dree. 
The Cruel Mother (Child's Ballads, II. 271). 
To dree One's or a weird, to abide one's fate or destiny ; 
endure au inevitable penalty. [Scotch.] 
I kenn'd he behoved to dree his weird till that day cam. 
Scott, Guy Manneriug, Iv. 
A poor broken-hearted thing, that, if she hath done evil, 
has dreed a sore weird for it. 
Scott, Fair Maid of Perth, I. xii. 
