Dreariness
(Drear"i*ness), n.
1. Sorrow; wretchedness. [Obs.]
2. Dismalness; gloomy solitude.
Drearing
(Drear"ing), n. Sorrow. [Obs.] Spenser.
Drearisome
(Drear"i*some) a. Very dreary. Halliwell.
Dreary
(Drear"y) a. [Compar. Drearier ; superl. Dreariest.] [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin
to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
1. Sorrowful; distressful. [Obs.] " Dreary shrieks." Spenser.
2. Exciting cheerless sensations, feelings, or associations; comfortless; dismal; gloomy. " Dreary shades."
Dryden. "The dreary ground." Prior.
Full many a dreary anxious hour.
Keble.
Johnson entered on his vocation in the most dreary part of that dreary interval which separated two
ages of prosperity.
Macaulay. Drecche
(Drec"che) v. t. [AS. dreccan, dreccean.]
1. To vex; to torment; to trouble. [Obs.]
As man that in his dream is drecched sore.
Chaucer. Drecche
(Drec"che), v. i. To delay. [Obs.] Gower.
Dredge
(Dredge) n. [F. drège, dreige, fish net, from a word akin to E. draw; cf. D. dreg, dregge, small
anchor, dregnet dragnet. &radic73. See Draw.]
1. Any instrument used to gather or take by dragging; as: (a) A dragnet for taking up oysters, etc., from
their beds. (b) A dredging machine. (c) An iron frame, with a fine net attached, used in collecting
animals living at the bottom of the sea.
2. (Mining) Very fine mineral matter held in suspension in water. Raymond.
Dredge
(Dredge) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dredged (drejd); p. pr. & vb. n. Dredging.] To catch or gather
with a dredge; to deepen with a dredging machine. R. Carew.
Dredging machine, a machine (commonly on a boat) used to scoop up mud, gravel, or obstructions
from the bottom of rivers, docks, etc., so as to deepen them.
Dredge
(Dredge), n. [OE. dragge, F. dragée, dredge, also, sugar plum; cf. Prov. dragea, It. treggea; corrupted
fr. LL. tragemata, pl., sweetmeats, Gr. fr. to gnaw.] A mixture of oats and barley. [Obs.] Kersey.
Dredge
(Dredge), v. t. To sift or sprinkle flour, etc., on, as on roasting meat. Beau. & Fl.
Dredging box. (a) Same as 2d Dredger. (b) (Gun.) A copper box with a perforated lid; — used for
sprinkling meal powder over shell fuses. Farrow.
