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

See Examples For:

rummage sale

Everything inside the beach shack was tagged and priced, just like a rummage sale.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 19, 2023

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

Arthur Miller’s “The Price,” from 1968, is a tragedy disguised as a rummage sale.

From New York Times ● Mar. 16, 2017

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 24, 2016

Then I came to some baby clothes, maybe Dad’s, nothing too likely even for a rummage sale.

From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck