rummage
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
Old French arrumage (confer French arrimage), from arrumera (“to arrange the cargo in the hold”) (confer French arrimer). Confer Spanish arrumar.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Verb
rummage (third-person singular simple present rummages, present participle rummaging, simple past and past participle rummaged)
- (transitive, nautical) to arrange (cargo, goods, etc.) in the hold of a ship; to move or rearrange such goods.
- (transitive, nautical) to search a vessel for smuggled goods.
- After the long voyage, the customs officers rummaged the ship.
- (transitive) to search something which contains many items hastily by carelessly turning things over or pushing things aside.
- She rummaged her purse in search for the keys.
- (transitive) to search something thoroughly and with disregard for the way in which things were arranged
- The burglars rummaged the entire house for cash and jewellery.
- (intransitive) to hastily search for something in a confined space and among many items by carelessly turning things over or pushing things aside.
- She rummaged in the drawers trying to find the missing sock.
[edit] Translations
to search something which contains many items
to search something thoroughly and with disregard
to hastily search for
[edit] Noun
rummage (plural rummages)
- (obsolete) commotion; disturbance
- a thorough search, usually resulting in a disorder
- an unorganized collection of miscellaneous objects; a jumble
[edit] Quotations
-
- "And this, I take it,
- Is the main motive of our preparations
- The source of this our watch, and the chief head
- Of this post-haste and rummage in the land." - Horatio, in "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare, act 1 scene 1 l 103-106
