Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use rummage in a sentence

20 example sentences · verb, noun

Rummage means to arrange (cargo, goods, etc.) in the hold of a ship; to move or rearrange such goods. Example: “After the long voyage, the customs officers rummaged the ship.”

Examples of rummage by meaning

verbTo search a vessel for smuggled goods.

  • After the long voyage, the customs officers rummaged the ship.

verbTo search something thoroughly and with disregard for the way in which things were arranged.

  • She rummaged her purse in search of the keys.
  • The burglars rummaged the entire house for cash and jewellery.
  • British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins.2013 August 10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848

verbTo hastily search for something in a confined space and among many items by carelessly turning things over or pushing...

  • She rummaged in the drawers trying to find the missing sock.
  • Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

nounA thorough search, usually resulting in disorder.

  • Have a rummage through the attic and see if you can find anything worth selling.

More sentences with rummage

  • The alley is full of stray cats rummaging through the garbage.From the entry stray
  • I picked it up at a rummage sale.” It was the old Lisa, back in force.2022, Marilyn Shapiro Leys, Stories, AuthorHouse, →ISBN. From the entry milkglass
  • Devaney heads back to the bedroom, and I can hear her rummaging through drawers.2016, Cheryl Della Pietra, Gonzo Girl: A Novel, page 83. From the entry supersexist
  • He says his historical eclectism comes from a childhood spent rummaging through his grandmother’s attic.2007 August 26, Lee Carter, “History Boy”, in New York Times. From the entry eclectism
  • “I can’t believe it!” She rummaged her checklist out of her backpack.2000, Ann Taylor, “Watching the Watchers”, in Watching Birds: Reflections on the Wing, Camden, Me.: Ragged Mountain Press / McGraw-Hill…. From the entry unremarkable
  • Sam rummaged through her bag for the Bob Marley rastacap she'd also picked up that afternoon, all on Jackson's tab.2017, Nathan Birr, Chasing the Wind - The Douglas Files: Book Five: Book Five, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 13. From the entry rastacap
  • Before she closed each drawer she rummaged her hands through the clothes, untidying them just enough to feel comfortable.2014, Jennie Shortridge, Love Water Memory, page 116. From the entry untidy
  • On berthing at Shell Haven we were greeted by the rummage squad and we got the full treatment.2014, Anthony Holten, High Kings To Seakings, page 151. From the entry rummage squad
  • Upstairs she rummaged through her chest of drawers, finally unearthing an unopened pack of ten denier barely blacks.2002, Jill Mansell, Staying at Daisy's. From the entry denier
  • “I'm not nose-blind, you know.” “I never took you for nose-blind, whatever that is,” she said, rummaging in her car for the water.2015, K.D. Keenan, The Obsidian Mirror. From the entry nose blind
  • "It's not what you know but who you know," Shelby said, as she rummaged through a bag to find the business card he'd handed her.2008, Natasha Davies, Webc@m Girl, →ISBN, page 53. From the entry it's not what you know but who you know
  • Gilbert Gels 29, said the four students had painstakingly rummaged in dust boxes until they found the discarded stencils used to mimeograph the examinations.1954 January 28, The Record, Emerald Hill, Vic, page 1, column 3. From the entry dustbox
  • Then, with a tap of a button, selected items will be sent to a fitting room to try on without having to first rummage through racks.2022 January 20, Jon Porter, “Amazon’s First Clothing Store Lets You Summon Clothes to the Fitting Room”, in The Verge, archived from the…. From the entry tap

Meaning of rummage

  1. verb To arrange (cargo, goods, etc.) in the hold of a ship; to move or rearrange such goods.
  2. verb To search a vessel for smuggled goods.
  3. verb To search something thoroughly and with disregard for the way in which things were arranged.

Full definition of rummage

Questions about rummage in a sentence

How do you use rummage in a sentence?
Rummage is used as a verb and noun. For example: “After the long voyage, the customs officers rummaged the ship.”
What is a short sentence with rummage?
“She rummaged her purse in search of the keys.”
What does rummage mean?
Rummage means to arrange (cargo, goods, etc.) in the hold of a ship; to move or rearrange such goods.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rummage (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use rummage in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/rummage. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.