Rummage Definition
rŭmĭj
rummaged, rummages, rummaging
verb
rummaged, rummages, rummaging
To search through (a place, receptacle, etc.) thoroughly, esp. by moving the contents about, turning them over, etc.; ransack.
Webster's New World
To get, find, or turn up by or as by searching thoroughly.
Webster's New World
To search diligently, now sometimes haphazardly, as through the contents of a receptacle.
Webster's New World
(nautical) To arrange (cargo, goods, etc.) in the hold of a ship; to move or rearrange such goods.
Wiktionary
(nautical) To search a vessel for smuggled goods.
After the long voyage, the customs officers rummaged the ship.
Wiktionary
Synonyms:
noun
rummages
Miscellaneous articles; odds and ends.
Webster's New World
A rummaging, or thorough search.
Webster's New World
An unorganized collection of miscellaneous objects; a jumble.
Wiktionary
Synonyms:
- ransacking
- old clothes
- frippery
- jumble
- hand-me-downs
- stuff
- antiques
- second-hand goods
- used goods
- miscellany
- odds and ends
Origin of Rummage
-
From earlier romage act of packing cargo from French arrumage from Old French from arumer to stow from Old Provençal arumar a- to (from Latin ad- ad–) perhaps run ship's hold (of Germanic origin reuə- in Indo-European roots)
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Old French arrumage (confer French arrimage), from arrumer (“to arrange the cargo in the hold") (confer French arrimer and Spanish arrumar).
From Wiktionary
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