rummage
Americanverb (used with object)
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to search thoroughly or actively through (a place, receptacle, etc.), especially by moving around, turning over, or looking through contents.
-
to find, bring, or fetch by searching (often followed by out orup ).
verb (used without object)
noun
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miscellaneous articles; odds and ends.
-
a rummaging search.
verb
noun
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an act of rummaging
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a jumble of articles
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obsolete confusion or bustle
Other Word Forms
- rummager noun
- unrummaged adjective
Etymology
Origin of rummage
1520–30; aphetic alteration of Middle French arrumage, equivalent to arrum ( er ) to stow goods in the hold of a ship (< ?) + -age -age
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.
I’ve always been leery of short-term rentals, and my friends’ recent experience is further proof that rummaging through an online grab bag of properties isn’t for me.
So Duane rummaged from room to room, putting together items he would like to bring back to his cave.
From Literature
Its flashing lights and internet connectivity foretell a future in which kids won’t rummage around in the toy box at all, opting instead for more and more screen time.
From Salon
I open the yellow one with Aunt Melissa’s house number painted on the side, grab the stack of magazines and envelopes, and rummage through the pile as I walk.
From Literature
The Dominican nuns who run the kitchen prepare food for about 80 elderly or destitute people -- growing numbers of Cubans are forced to rummage through garbage bins for food -- each day.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
