rummage

American  

[ruhm-ij] / ˈrʌm ɪdʒ /

verb (used with object)

• rummages,
  present (3rd person singular)
• rummaged,
  past participle,  past
• rummaging
  present participle

1. 

   to search thoroughly or actively through (a place, receptacle, etc.), especially by moving around, turning over, or looking through contents.

2. to find, bring, or fetch by searching (often followed by out orup ).

---

verb (used without object)

• rummages,
  present (3rd person singular)
• rummaged,
  past participle,  past
• rummaging
  present participle

1. to search actively, as in a place or receptacle or within oneself.

   She rummaged in her mind for the forgotten name.

noun

1. miscellaneous articles; odds and ends.

2. a rummaging search.

rummage British  

/ ˈrʌmɪdʒ /

verb

1. to search (through) while looking for something, often causing disorder or confusion

---

noun

1. an act of rummaging

2. a jumble of articles

3. obsolete confusion or bustle

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• rummager
  noun
• unrummaged
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• rummaging
  present
• rummaged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• rummage
  simple
• rummages
  simple
• have rummaged
  perfect
• has rummaged
  perfect
• am rummaging
  progressive
• are rummaging
  progressive
• is rummaging
  progressive
• have been rummaging
  perfect progressive
• has been rummaging
  perfect progressive

Past

• rummaged
  simple
• had rummaged
  perfect
• was rummaging
  progressive
• were rummaging
  progressive
• had been rummaging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will rummage
  simple
• will have rummaged
  perfect
• will be rummaging
  progressive
• will have been rummaging
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rummage rummages rummaged rummaging

Or Root, who had to rummage around his garage to dig out his old captain's blazer.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

Jouppi swore he had no idea; bush pilots do not rummage through their passengers’ bags.

From Slate ● Jul. 28, 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

The Dominican nuns who run the kitchen prepare food for about 80 elderly or destitute people -- growing numbers of Cubans are forced to rummage through garbage bins for food -- each day.

From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026

It wasn’t like she could follow Drew into his house or somehow rummage through his backpack when he wasn’t looking.

From "Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World" by Ashley Herring Blake

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

It remains a vehicle for pain and sorrow, a ballad from a forgotten world, a book that rummages around in the marrow of things.

From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2023

An hour in, the setup is still going on as Rom rummages through old photographs, putting together connections the audience has never been privy to.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 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

Celia rummages through her nightstand drawer for her favorite photograph of her son.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García

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

The trial was told how paramedics rummaged through drawers and blood was transferred to a light switch.

From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2025

Sitting in his spartan room in Astana, Kazakhstan, Yevgeny rummaged through a cardboard box that holds the things he thought to save.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 11, 2024

Daoud rummaged around in the shoebox and lifted out a bottle filled with a silvery, almost-mercurial fluid.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

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

They must bob for apples and drop them into a bucket next to their basin before rummaging through a measly pile of autumn-colored leaves in search of a golden leaf.

From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2025

Nigel looked up from his rummaging and seemed caught a bit off-guard.

From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English

Related Words

• comb
• forage
• poke
• scour