'Rummage' definitions:
Definition of 'rummage'
From: WordNet
noun
A jumble of things to be given away
noun
A thorough search for something (often causing disorder or confusion); "he gave the attic a good rummage but couldn't find his skis" [syn: ransacking, rummage]
verb
Search haphazardly; "We rummaged through the drawers"
Definition of 'Rummage'
From: GCIDE
- Rummage \Rum"mage\, v. i. To search a place narrowly. [1913 Webster]
- I have often rummaged for old books in Little Britain and Duck Lane. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
- [His house] was haunted with a jolly ghost, that . . . . . . rummaged like a rat. --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Rummage'
From: GCIDE
- Rummage \Rum"mage\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rummaged; p. pr. & vb. n. Rummaging.]
- 1. (Naut.) To make room in, as a ship, for the cargo; to move about, as packages, ballast, so as to permit close stowage; to stow closely; to pack; -- formerly written roomage, and romage. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
- They might bring away a great deal more than they do, if they would take pain in the romaging. --Hakluyt. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To search or examine thoroughly by looking into every corner, and turning over or removing goods or other things; to examine, as a book, carefully, turning over leaf after leaf. [1913 Webster]
- He . . . searcheth his pockets, and taketh his keys, and so rummageth all his closets and trunks. --Howell. [1913 Webster]
- What schoolboy of us has not rummaged his Greek dictionary in vain for a satisfactory account! --M. Arnold. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Rummage'
From: GCIDE
- Rummage \Rum"mage\ (?; 48), n. [For roomage, fr. room; hence originally, a making room, a packing away closely. See Room.]
- 1. (Naut.) A place or room for the stowage of cargo in a ship; also, the act of stowing cargo; the pulling and moving about of packages incident to close stowage; -- formerly written romage. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
- 2. A searching carefully by looking into every corner, and by turning things over. [1913 Webster]
- He has made such a general rummage and reform in the office of matrimony. --Walpole. [1913 Webster]
- Rummage sale, a clearance sale of unclaimed goods in a public store, or of odds and ends which have accumulated in a shop. --Simmonds. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'rummage'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- beat,
- comb,
- conglomeration,
- disarrange,
- disarray,
- discompose,
- disorganize,
- disrupt,
- disturb,
- domiciliary visit,
- dragnet,
- examine,
- exploration,
- forage,
- frisk,
- hash,
- hotchpotch,
- house-search,
- hunt,
- hunting,
- jumble,
- jungle,
- litter,
- look all over,
- look everywhere,
- look through,
- mash,
- mess up,
- miscellanea,
- miscellany,
- mishmash,
- mix up,
- muddle,
- odds and ends,
- patchwork,
- perquisition,
- poke,
- posse,
- potpourri,
- probe,
- quest,
- rake,
- ransack,
- ransacking,
- rifle,
- scour,
- scrabble,
- scramble,
- scrounge,
- search,
- search high heaven,
- search party,
- search warrant,
- search-and-destroy operation,
- searching,
- shake,
- shake down,
- stalk,
- stalking,
- still hunt,
- toss,
- tumble,
- turn inside out,
- turn upside down,
- turning over