rummage
- 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 or up).
- to search actively, as in a place or receptacle or within oneself: She rummaged in her mind for the forgotten name.
- miscellaneous articles; odds and ends.
- a rummaging search.
Origin of rummage
Related Words for rummage
comb, forage, poke, scour, jumble, spy, disturb, rake, disarray, grub, toss, seek, hunt, disorganize, explore, root, examine, shake, disorder, delveExamples from the Web for rummage
Contemporary Examples of rummage
Another leaned forward at that point to rummage in her bag for a mint.
Malamo Voulgaropoulou, a former singer now in her 80s, is one of many pensioners who rummage through dumpsters for food.
Previously, Anderson had enraged Hoover by assigning a reporter to rummage through his trash at home.
Historical Examples of rummage
I want to rummage over my thoughts and see whether some of them are to be abandoned or not.'
A Woman IntervenesRobert Barr
After the action we went to rummage a sort of camp, which they had left behind them.
The Jest BookMark Lemon
So I had to rummage through the refrigerator and use my own judgment.
The Wall BetweenSara Ware Bassett
She had to rummage her memory awhile to discover just what it was.
The Faith DoctorEdward Eggleston
Did I ever walk into your house to pry and rummage, and tell you that your things were no use?
A Little Country GirlSusan Coolidge
rummage
- (when intr , often foll by through) to search (through) while looking for something, often causing disorder or confusion
- an act of rummaging
- a jumble of articles
- obsolete confusion or bustle
Word Origin for rummage
Word Origin and History for rummage
1540s, "arrange (cargo) in a ship," from rummage (n.), 1520s, "act of arranging cargo in a ship," a shortening of Middle French arrumage "arrangement of cargo," from arrumer "to stow goods in the hold of a ship," from a- "to" + rumer, probably from Germanic (cf. Old Norse rum "compartment in a ship," Old High German rum "space," Old English rum; see room (n.)). Or else from English room (n.) + -age.
Meaning "to search closely (the hold of a ship), especially by moving things about" first recorded 1610s. Related: Rummaged; rummaging. Rummage sale (1803) originally was a sale at docks of unclaimed goods.