rummage

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To search thoroughly by handling, turning over, or disarranging the contents of.
2. v. To discover by searching thoroughly.
3. v. To make an energetic, usually hasty search.
4. n. A thorough search among a number of things.
5. n. A confusion of miscellaneous articles.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To adjust the roomage or capacity of (a ship) with reference to the cargo; arrange or stow the cargo of (a ship) in the hold; especially, to clear by the removal of goods: as, to rummage a ship.
2. To move to and fro the contents of, as in a search; ransack; hunt through; explore: as, to rummage a trunk.
3. To set in motion; stir; hence, specifically, to mix by stirring or some other form of agitation: as, to rummage a liquid.
4. To bring to light by searching.
5. To arrange or stow the cargo of a ship in the hold.
6. To search narrowly, especially by moving about and looking among the things in the place searched; execute a search.
7. To make a stir, bustle, or disturbance.
8. n. The act of rummaging, in any sense; the act of searching a place, especially by turning over the contents.
9. n. A stirring or bustling about; a disturbance; an upheaval.
10. n. Lumber; rubbish. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.]

Wiktionary

1. v. transitive, nautical to arrange (cargo, goods, etc.) in the hold of a ship; to move or rearrange such goods.
2. v. transitive, nautical to search a vessel for smuggled goods.
3. v. transitive to search something which contains many items hastily by carelessly turning things over or pushing things aside.
4. v. transitive to search something thoroughly and with disregard for the way in which things were arranged
5. v. intransitive to hastily search for something in a confined space and among many items by carelessly turning things over or pushing things aside.
6. n. obsolete commotion; disturbance
7. n. a thorough search, usually resulting in a disorder
8. n. an unorganized collection of miscellaneous objects; a jumble

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Naut.), obsolete 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.
2. n. A searching carefully by looking into every corner, and by turning things over.
3. v. (Naut.), obsolete To make room in, as a ship, for the cargo; to move about, as packages, ballast, so as to permit close stowage; to stow closely; to pack; -- formerly written roomage, and romage.
4. v. To search or examine thoroughly by looking into every corner, and turning over or removing goods or other things; to examine, as a book, carefully, turning over leaf after leaf.
5. v. To search a place narrowly.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a jumble of things to be given away
2. n. a thorough search for something (often causing disorder or confusion)
3. v. search haphazardly