rummage
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L326991 on Wikidata ↗verb
- dig for something
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈɹʌm.ɪd͡ʒ/
name
Etymology: Americanized spelling of German Rometsch.
- A surname from German.
noun
Etymology: From Middle English ronage, from Old French arrumage (compare French arrimage), from arrumer (“to arrange the cargo in the hold”) (compare French arrimer and Spanish arrumar).
- A thorough search, usually resulting in disorder.
“Have a rummage through the attic and see if you can find anything worth selling.”
“He has made such a general rummage and reform in the office of matrimony.”
- Commotion; disturbance.
- A disorganized collection of miscellaneous objects; a jumble.
- A place or room for the stowage of cargo in a ship.
- The act of stowing cargo; the pulling and moving about of packages incident to close stowage.
verb
Etymology: From Middle English ronage, from Old French arrumage (compare French arrimage), from arrumer (“to arrange the cargo in the hold”) (compare French arrimer and Spanish arrumar).
- To arrange (cargo, goods, etc.) in the hold of a ship; to move or rearrange such goods.
- To search a vessel for smuggled goods.
“After the long voyage, the customs officers rummaged the ship.”
- To search something thoroughly and with disregard for the way in which things were arranged.
“She rummaged her purse in search of the keys.”
“The burglars rummaged the entire house for cash and jewellery.”
- To hastily search for something in a confined space and among many items by carelessly turning things over or pushing things aside; dig through carelessly.
“She rummaged in the drawers trying to find the missing sock.”
“Philander went into the next room[…]and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.”