rummage

[ ruhm-ij ]
See synonyms for rummage on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),rum·maged, rum·mag·ing.
  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 or up).

verb (used without object),rum·maged, rum·mag·ing.
  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.

Origin of rummage

1
1520–30; aphetic alteration of Middle French arrumage, equivalent to arrum(er) to stow goods in the hold of a ship (< ?) + -age-age

Other words from rummage

  • rum·mag·er, noun
  • un·rum·maged, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use rummage in a sentence

  • Not another thing could he rummage up around the shack to help him, no yarn, nor twine, nor goods of any kind.

  • Perhaps it will all come back again with the south wind; but, no—I must go and rummage up one of the old philosophers again.

    Farthest North | Fridtjof Nansen
  • I vote we rummage up all the old charms we can, and try them.

British Dictionary definitions for rummage

rummage

/ (ˈrʌmɪdʒ) /


verb
  1. (when intr , often foll by through) to search (through) while looking for something, often causing disorder or confusion

noun
  1. an act of rummaging

  2. a jumble of articles

  1. obsolete confusion or bustle

Origin of rummage

1
C14 (in the sense: to pack a cargo): from Old French arrumage, from arrumer to stow in a ship's hold, probably of Germanic origin

Derived forms of rummage

  • rummager, noun

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