Searching through things in a messy or hasty way, moving things around to find something.
From Middle English 'rummagen,' possibly from Dutch 'ruimen' meaning 'to clear out.' The term evolved to describe the action of carelessly moving through items while searching.
The word captures a very specific kind of searching—not neat and organized, but the chaotic digging through drawers or boxes that kids do when looking for something important. It's one of those words that sounds like what it means!
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