rummage

[ ruhm-ij ]
See synonyms for: rummagerummaging 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

  • The baron unlocked this door, and, after some rummaging, he took forth a box similar to that he had taken out before.

    Checkmate | Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
  • The gratification of rummaging false Val's desk was an ample compensation; and the countess-dowager hugged herself with delight.

    Elster's Folly | Mrs. Henry Wood
  • Stick a candle in your pocket; I can't rest, Jim, till we give her a rummaging.

    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete | Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
  • He was no sort of a speaker, being ill at ease, and plainly occupied in rummaging about in his mind.

    The Yeoman Adventurer | George W. Gough
  • Win Scott had contributed all the coffee, grain or salt sacks he could secure by rummaging every building on Stable Street.

    Watch Yourself Go By | Al. G. Field

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