rummage
Americanverb (used with object)
-
rummages,
present (3rd person singular)
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rummaged,
past participle, past
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rummaging
present participle
-
to search thoroughly or actively through (a place, receptacle, etc.), especially by moving around, turning over, or looking through contents.
-
to find, bring, or fetch by searching (often followed by out orup ).
verb (used without object)
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rummages,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rummaged,
past participle, past
-
rummaging
present participle
noun
-
miscellaneous articles; odds and ends.
-
a rummaging search.
verb
noun
-
an act of rummaging
-
a jumble of articles
-
obsolete confusion or bustle
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
rummagesimple
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rummagessimple
-
have rummagedperfect
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has rummagedperfect
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am rummagingprogressive
-
are rummagingprogressive
-
is rummagingprogressive
-
have been rummagingperfect progressive
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has been rummagingperfect progressive
Past
-
rummagedsimple
-
had rummagedperfect
-
was rummagingprogressive
-
were rummagingprogressive
-
had been rummagingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rummage
1520–30; aphetic alteration of Middle French arrumage, equivalent to arrum ( er ) to stow goods in the hold of a ship (< ?) + -age -age
Explanation
Rummage means to search for something, but in a scattered, disorganized manner. You can rummage through your drawer looking for a lost sock, or you could even hold "a rummage sale" to sell off all your socks that are missing their mates. Ahoy, mateys: the word rummage hails from a sea-faring background. The Middle Dutch ruim, Germanic rum, and Old English rum all referred to a compartment on a ship, probably stemming from the Middle French verb arrumer, "to stow goods in the hold of a ship." The idea of rummaging as searching was first recorded in the 1620s. The first rummage sale also had its ship connection, as it was a sale on the docks of unclaimed items.
Vocabulary lists containing rummage
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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The Hate U Give
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Or Root, who had to rummage around his garage to dig out his old captain's blazer.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
The old and young rummage through garbage bins searching for something to eat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
That’s why I find myself reaching for them whenever a dish needs a little herbal brightness without requiring me to rummage through half the spice cabinet.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026
General warrants and writs of assistance enraged the colonies precisely because they allowed British officials to rummage through homes and businesses without individualized suspicion.
From Slate ● May 20, 2026
He stood to go rummage through the storage closet.
From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner
Deiri Fayyad rummages through dustbins in the Lebanese capital Beirut in search of plastics and other discarded materials to be recycled.
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2023
At one point he rummages through his apron to pull out a tiny square of red fabric — a matador’s cloth in miniature — which he waves once, smiling, and then discards on the ground.
From New York Times ● Jan. 24, 2023
He rummages through his stash of salvaged parts in the garden shed and locates a pair of replacements.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 15, 2022
He rummages through all the things only to almost stick with the exact outfit he arrived wearing, but calls up a dark denim jacket for the needed layer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2022
She rummages through one of her suitcases, pulls out a big plastic bag, and dumps the contents on the bed.
From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass
The sisters got creative and rummaged in thrift shops, looking for discarded treasure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
After taking a job at the Conference Board, a business research organization, he rummaged through libraries to unearth measures of railcar freight loading and trends in short staple cotton prices since the Civil War.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
She rummaged around for a second and suggested a triangle with an exclamation point in it, which would signal a bit of excitement but clear danger too.
From Slate ● Dec. 26, 2025
Towards the end of the patrol he described how hungry crew members rummaged for tins of food in hidden compartments inside the submarine.
From BBC ● May 12, 2025
Dad rummaged in the glove compartment and found a wad of napkins.
From "I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005" by Lauren Tarshis
They were both rummaging for treasure at one of the junk stalls.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
At the warehouse in Bangkok's Nonthaburi suburb, the sound of people rummaging through products and plastic crates clattering against shopping carts echoes through the building.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
Chatrie asks whether the Constitution still remembers that lesson once the rummaging happens through data instead of drawers.
From Slate ● May 20, 2026
Residents report bears rummaging through trash, raiding chicken coops and—like any good Southern Californian—dipping into backyard pools.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
But, rummaging in his pouch to free the rope, Shadow’s claw had closed on the handle of his dagger.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
