Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A sale of assorted secondhand objects contributed by donors to raise money for a charity.
  • noun A sale, especially of unclaimed or excess goods, as at a warehouse or wharf.
  • noun A sale of used household belongings, typically held on the seller's property.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A sale of garments that have been worn and of cast off furnishings of any description, at very low prices, usually held in connection with church work for the benefit of the poor.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Informal sale of donated items, usually to fund the programs of a church or charity.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a sale of donated articles

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word rummage sale.

Examples

    Sorry, no example sentences found.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Rummage was a nautical term describing the arrangement of casks and other cargo in the hold of a vessel. "Rummage goods" came to describe outdated items, unclaimed goods at docks, or odds and ends from warehouses, which were sold at clearance sales.

    January 8, 2008

  • Wot?? I went to rummage sales all the time when I was young and assumed they were so called because they entailed rummaging through endless piles of castoff tat.

    January 8, 2008

  • The things you learn on Wordie. ;-)

    January 8, 2008

  • According to this map, American usage of "rummage sale" is clustered around Milwaukee, of all places.

    Huh.

    April 22, 2008

  • In Oregon, where I grew up, people had yard and garage sales, but churches and schools had rummages.

    April 22, 2008