rummage
/ˈrʌmɪdʒ
/verb [no object]
1Search unsystematically and untidily through something: he rummaged in his pocket for a handkerchief [with object]: he rummaged the drawer for his false teeth...
- I was rummaging through my pocket in search of airsickness pills and looking down at the barren brownish plain, only occasionally dissected with dirt tracks.
- I rummaged in the sock drawer for a matching pair, flung on a jacket, and jammed my feet into trainers, and then walked to work in record time.
- I spent most of the night rummaging through desk drawers and sifting through filing cabinets.
Synonyms
search (through), hunt through, scrabble about/around in, root about/around in, ferret (about/around) in, fish about/around in, poke around in, dig in, grub about in, delve in, go through, explore, sift through, rifle through, scour, ransack, turn over
British informal rootle around in
Australian/New Zealand informal fossick through
rare roust around in
1.1 [with object] Find (something) by rummaging: Mick rummaged up his skateboard...
- She handed over her mobile and I rummaged the few digits from my memory.
- He stared at the door for a moment before letting out a sigh, rummaging his keys out from his pocket, and unlocking his own.
- She rummaged up some change, and bought us some sodas.
1.2 [with object] (Of a customs officer) make a thorough search of (a vessel): our brief was to rummage as many of the vessels as possible
noun
1An unsystematic and untidy search: open up the box and have a rummage around...
- Set in a depressing flat on a south London estate, teenager Luke rummages down the back of a grubby sofa in a fruitless search for something.
- Now and again he has a good rummage though his bookshelf to see what he can find, and at the moment he's reading a book of Robert Browning's poetry.
- He went for a walk on the roof, for a rummage in a bin then went back on to the roof.
1.1A thorough search of a vessel by a customs officer: a rummage of the vessel revealed eighty cases of cigars
Derivatives
rummager
- Every day we hiply dressed rummagers divide the sellable items from the damaged ones; the good stuff gets a wash and then goes to Chicago's five outlets.
Origin
Late 15th century: from Old French arrumage, from arrumer 'stow (in a hold)', from Middle Dutch ruim 'room'. In early use the word referred to the arranging of items such as casks in the hold of a ship, giving rise (early 17th century) to the verb sense 'make a search of (a vessel').