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rummage sale

American  

noun

  1. a sale of miscellaneous articles, old or new, as items contributed to raise money for charity, of unclaimed goods at a wharf or warehouse, or of odds and ends of merchandise at a shop.


rummage sale British  

noun

  1. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): jumble sale.  a sale of miscellaneous articles, usually cheap and predominantly secondhand, in aid of charity

  2. a sale of unclaimed property or unsold stock

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of rummage sale

First recorded in 1855–60

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:

The Chicago Sports Spectacular, one of the country’s biggest and oldest card shows, is like a rummage sale from the days before eBay, but with way more money involved.

From New York Times Jan. 26, 2024

Last year we did a big rummage sale, and we spent a lot of that time being like “How did we have so much crap?”

From Slate Nov. 14, 2018

SAT-SUN 112th annual bazaar, Nordic food and bake sale, crafts, raffle, rummage sale, Book Nook, silent auctions, Norwegian coffee, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

From Seattle Times Oct. 17, 2018

She collected boxes of junk from friends and held a giant rummage sale in a vacant lot.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 24, 2016

She’s getting organized for the festival’s rummage sale.

From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio

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