Definition/Meaning of rummage

• English - 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…
• English - Noun: rummage ( plural rummages ) ( obsolete ) Commotion; disturbance . A thorough search , usually resulting in disorder . Walpole He has such a general rummage and reform in the office of matrimony . An unorganized collection of miscellaneous objects; a jumble . ( nautical ) 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…
• English - Etymology: Old French arrumage (confer French arrimage ), from arrumer ( “ to arrange the cargo in the hold ” ) (confer French arrimer and Spanish arrumar ).
• English - Pronunciation: ( UK , US ) IPA (key) : /ˈɹʌm.ɪdʒ/
• English - 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