rummage

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: rum=mage

CIDE DICTIONARY

rummage, n. [For roomage, fr. room; hence originally, a making room, a packing away closely. See Room.].

•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  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."  [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.

rummage, v. t. 

•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "They might bring away a great deal more than they do, if they would take pain in the romaging."  [1913 Webster]
•  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."  [1913 Webster]

  "What schoolboy of us has not rummaged his Greek dictionary in vain for a satisfactory account!"  [1913 Webster]

rummage, v. i. 

 To search a place narrowly.  [1913 Webster]
"I have often rummaged for old books in Little Britain and Duck Lane."  [1913 Webster]
"[His house] was haunted with a jolly ghost, that . . .
. . . rummaged like a rat."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

rummage, v. & n.
--v.
1 tr. & (foll. by in, through, among) intr. search, esp. untidily and unsystematically.
2 tr. (foll. by out, up) find among other things.
3 tr. (foll. by about) disarrange; make untidy in searching.
--n.
1 an instance of rummaging.
2 things found by rummaging; a miscellaneous accumulation.

Idiom

rummage sale esp. US a jumble sale.

Derivative

rummager n.

Etymology

earlier as noun in obs. sense 'arranging of casks etc. in a hold': OF arrumage f. arrumer stow (as AD-, run ship's hold f. MDu. ruim ROOM)

THESAURUS

rummage

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

ROGET THESAURUS

rummage

Inquiry

VB make inquiry, inquire, ask, seek, search, look for, look about for, look out for, scan, reconnoiter, explore, sound, rummage, ransack, pry, peer, look round, look over, go over, look through, go through, spy, overhaul, ask about, inquire about, scratch the head, slap the forehead, look into every hole and corner, peer into every hole and corner, pry into every hole and corner, nose, trace up, search out, hunt down, hunt out, fish out, ferret out, unearth, leave no stone unturned, seek a clue, seek a clew, hunt, track, trail, mouse, dodge, trace, follow the trail, follow the scent, pursue, beat up one's quarters, fish for, feel for, investigate, take up an inquiry, institute an inquiry, pursue an inquiry, follow up an inquiry, conduct an inquiry, carry on an inquiry, carry out an inquiry, prosecute an inquiry, look at, look into, preexamine, discuss, canvass, agitate, examine, study, consider, calculate, dip into, dive into, delve into, go deep into, make sure of, probe, sound, fathom, probe to the bottom, probe to the quick, scrutinize, analyze, anatomize, dissect, parse, resolve, sift, winnow, view in all its phases, try in all its phases, thresh out, bring in question, bring into question, subject to examination, put to the proof, audit, tax, pass in review, take into consideration, take counsel, question, demand, put the question, pop the question, propose the question, propound the question, moot the question, start the question, raise the question, stir the question, suggest the question, put forth the question, ventilate the question, grapple with the question, go into a question, question, put to the question, interrogate, pump, subject to interrogation, subject to examination, cross-question, cross-examine, press for an answer, give the third degree, put to the inquisition, dodge, catechize, require an answer, pick the brains of, suck the brains of, feel the pulse, get the lay of the land, see how the wind is blowing, put one's ear to the ground, be in question, undergo examination.