From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrummagerum‧mage1 /ˈrʌmɪdʒ/ verb [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] (also rummage around/about)LOOK FOR to search for something by moving things around in a careless or hurried wayrummage in/through etc Looks like someone’s been rummaging around in my desk.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
rummage• She rummaged around and found a teapot and a mug.• She rummaged around, hoping for inspiration, discarding brooches and beads and belts.• Donna rummaged in her purse and found hers.• She rummaged in the cupboard, lifting out and rejecting one dish after another.• I rummaged through my drawer for his key.• It was like rummaging through some one else's dreams.• While the congregation sat waiting, Brian rummaged through the sacristy until he found some stale hosts.rummage in/through etc• She was for ever running to ransack her crowded dresser drawers, rummaging in her sewing box as she made high-pitched excited noises.• She managed to wait until Héloïse had left the room before rummaging in her sleeve for her big white handkerchief.• I tore some pages out of my notebook, then rummaged in my pocketbook for another pen.• While the congregation sat waiting, Brian rummaged through the sacristy until he found some stale hosts.• A rummage in the scrap box revealed an odd plastic corner plate.• Getting up from rummaging in the wastepaper basket, she bumped her head, very lightly, on the sink.• But rummaging in the wrong, in Gloria's, bag for her cigarettes, some things fell out.rummagerummage2 noun 1 [countable usually singular] informalLOOK FOR a careless or hurried search for something Have a rummage in my jewellery box and see if you can find something you like.2 [uncountable] especially American EnglishDHH old clothes, toys etc that you no longer want SYN jumble British EnglishExamples from the Corpus
rummage• Lots of hairdressers now have accessory counters so why not have a rummage?• And do be careful if you decide to open up the box yourself to have a rummage around.• A rummage in the scrap box revealed an odd plastic corner plate.• Boarding and rummage of a merchant vessel presents no particular problem to us.• Then began the long, painstaking job of deep rummage.• In those days units, or mobile rummage crews, setting up schemes between us as a result of local smuggling information.• Of course, our rummage crews were working on more or less virgin territory, where no customs rummage crew had been before.• I was in charge of the rummage crew, and feeling that I had done my bit went to find the others.Origin rummage2 (1400-1500) Old French arrimage “arranging the load in a ship” 