Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Rummage \Rum"mage\ (?; 48), n. [For roomage, fr. room; hence
originally, a making room, a packing away closely. See
{Room}.]
1. (Naut.) 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 incident to close stowage; --
formerly written romage. [Obs.]
2. A searching carefully by looking into every corner, and by
turning things over.
He has made such a general rummage and reform in the
office of matrimony. --Walpole.
{Rummage sale}, a clearance sale of unclaimed goods in a
public store, or of odds and ends which have accumulated
in a shop. --Simmonds.
Source : WordNet®
rummage sale
n : a sale of donated articles [syn: {jumble sale}]