RUMMAGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does rummage mean? 

• RUMMAGE (noun)
  The noun RUMMAGE has 2 senses:

1. a jumble of things to be given away

2. a thorough search for something (often causing disorder or confusion)

  Familiarity information: RUMMAGE used as a noun is rare.

• RUMMAGE (verb)
  The verb RUMMAGE has 1 sense:

1. search haphazardly

  Familiarity information: RUMMAGE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RUMMAGE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A jumble of things to be given away

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("rummage" is a kind of...):

clutter; fuddle; jumble; mare's nest; muddle; smother; welter (a confused multitude of things)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A thorough search for something (often causing disorder or confusion)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

ransacking; rummage

Context example:

he gave the attic a good rummage but couldn't find his skis

Hypernyms ("rummage" is a kind of...):

hunt; hunting; search (the activity of looking thoroughly in order to find something or someone)

Derivation:

rummage (search haphazardly)

• RUMMAGE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they rummage    ... he / she / it rummages   
Past simple: rummaged   
Past participle: rummaged   
-ing form: rummaging   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Search haphazardly

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

We rummaged through the drawers

Hypernyms (to "rummage" is one way to...):

search (subject to a search)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

rummage (a thorough search for something (often causing disorder or confusion))

 Context examples 

But he did not write the letter that day, for as he rummaged out his best paper, he came across something which changed his purpose.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The moment I looked at my table, I was aware that someone had rummaged among my papers.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He rummaged in his coat pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted paper, he laid it out upon the table.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He went over and began to rummage among them, reading snatches here and there, his favorite portions.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The seamen at their landing observed my canoe, and rummaging it all over, easily conjectured that the owner could not be far off.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Does the patient rummage around opening and unpacking drawers or closets?

(NPI - Rummage Around Opening and Unpacking Drawers or Closets, NCI Thesaurus)

"Hairpins," she replied, passing on and rummaging in a clothes-bag on the bunk.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Now, I'll teach you to rummage my bookshelves: for they are mine; all the house belongs to me, or will do in a few years.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

To begin at the beginning, Mrs. Kirke called to me one day as I passed Mr. Bhaer's room where she was rummaging.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Holmes spent the evening in rummaging among the files of the old daily papers with which one of our lumber-rooms was packed.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)