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rummage

rummage

1 4.6
A messy search through things to find something
  • noun
  • /ˈrʌmɪdʒ/
translation icon : registro
  • What are you looking for? asked Tenzing, watching Sir Edmund rummage in the snow.
  • rummage through drawers
  • rummage around

So when I was writing this talk, I thought, right, I must go and have a rummage through the RI archives.

Examples

  • Rhea watched her rummage through the drawers, unveiling earrings with screw-on backs and cream-colored letters sealed with blobs of gold wax.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Mama had money from our bank in New Orleans and from the rummage sale, but Aunt Dorothy insisted on buying me two dresses.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • A rummage through the Reverend's papers would probably put him to sleep in no time.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • So when I was writing this talk, I thought, right, I must go and have a rummage through the RI archives.

  • Although it was a private place, with an opening closed to the public, once inside you could do what you pleased: disrupt things, rummage, touch, and move.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • He stops, rummages in his case, and brings out a bottle of perfume.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • And if the Fort William museum turned up nothing, then a good rummage through the Reverend's archives was the logical, if ironic, next step.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • She sits up and catches sight of the rose, rummages in the drawer, and pulls out the tape with Catch's phone number on it.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • She puts on a pair of elbow-length turquoise rubber gloves and rummages through the shopping wagon.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • After a thorough rummage through the attic, they found their old toys covered in dust.

Synonyms

ransacking
vsrummage
1 7.3

A complete search that makes a place very messy or damaged

focuses on causing disorder or confusion, not necessarily physical damage
scouring
vsrummage
1 4.6

A careful search of a place to find something lost

involves a thorough search that also causes disorder or confusion

Compounds

6 2.3

An event where people sell used or donated things to raise money for charity

How Thorough

rummage
1 4.6
search
1.0

Surface Forms

rummage singular
rummages plural

Etymology

Rummage comes from an old French verb like remuer meaning 'to stir' or 'move things'. That image of 'stirring' explains the noun sense: a rummage is a messy search that makes things move and look untidy as you look for something.