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.

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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

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Etymology

Origin of rummage sale

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

The scene on a recent Friday at a Greenwich Village townhouse was like a cross between an art opening and a rummage sale.

From New York Times • Oct. 28, 2022

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

Dear Heloise: When your church is going to have a rummage sale, some of the people in the church work all week to unpack all the donated merchandise, set up tables and price everything.

From Washington Post • Jul. 16, 2018

In fact, he’d helped his mother put her things in boxes for the church rummage sale.

From "Clayton Byrd Goes Underground" by Rita Williams-Garcia