Rummage

From Mereja Words
Jump to: navigation, search

English

Verb

Rummage (third-person singular simple present Rummages, present participle rummaging, simple past and past participle rummaged)

  1. (transitive, nautical) to arrange (cargo, goods, etc.) in the hold of a ship; to move or rearrange such goods.
  2. (transitive, nautical) to search a vessel for smuggled goods.
    After the long voyage, the customs officers rummaged the ship.
  3. (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.
  4. (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.
  5. (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.

Noun

Rummage (plural Rummages)
  1. (obsolete) commotion; disturbance
  2. a thorough search, usually resulting in a disorder
  3. an unorganized collection of miscellaneous objects; a jumble

Quotations

  1. "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

Related terms

See also

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

Etymology

Old French arrumage (confer French arrimage), from arrumera (“to arrange the cargo in the hold”) (confer French arrimer). Confer Spanish arrumar.

Pronunciation

Translations

Verb

to search something which contains many items
to search something thoroughly and with disregard
to hastily search for
Retrieved from "https://mereja.com/words/index.php?title=Rummage&oldid=50257"