rummage sale

noun

Updated on: 16 Apr 2018

Definition of rummage sale

: a usually informal sale of miscellaneous goods; especially : a sale of donated articles conducted by a nonprofit organization (such as a church or charity) to help support its programs

See rummage sale defined for English-language learners

See rummage sale defined for kids

Recent Examples of rummage sale from the Web

Petting zoo, basic health screening, free hot dog lunch, rummage sale, craft show, cruise in.

— luann gibbs, Cincinnati.com, "Fun and free events in Cincinnati this weekend: April 13-15," 11 Apr. 2018
Shop plant sale, vendor and rummage sale items, bake sale, snack bar, and more.

— elaine rewolinski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "A listing of home and garden events for the Milwaukee area (Spring 2018 edition)," 9 Apr. 2018
Those donations, coupled with the annual rummage sale, mean the foundation is in good shape, with money in the bank.

— karina bland, azcentral, "The power of an orange ball: How coaches Eddie Martinez and David Solano give back on a basketball court," 21 Nov. 2017
The thrift shop is an evolution of the organization's quarterly rummage sale fundraisers, which ended in late 2016 when the building the sales were held at in the Stow-Kent Shopping Center sold.

— megan becka, cleveland.com, "Humane Society of Summit County to open Happy Tails Thrift Shop in February," 29 Jan. 2018
Guidance systems, fuel pumps and the massive cones designed to hold nuclear warheads at the tip of a rocket all stood in the autumn sun like leftovers from a military rummage sale.

— simon shuster / dnipro, Time, "How North Korea Built a Nuclear Arsenal on the Ashes of the Soviet Union," 1 Feb. 2018
After spending nearly a year trying to find a new, 10,000-square-foot donated space to continue the rummage sales, the humane society settled on finding a retail space instead.

— megan becka, cleveland.com, "Humane Society of Summit County to open Happy Tails Thrift Shop in February," 29 Jan. 2018
According to Rampale, there are also other events, like church rummage sales, that the program has partnered with to recycle or reuse leftover material.

— frank abderholden, Lake County News-Sun, "Textile collections hit high in 2017 with quarter-ton of old clothes recycled in Lake County," 24 Jan. 2018
This has, ostensibly, made sifting through piles of old clothes at rummage sales and thrift stores for that one gem in an uncurated mountain of dross a thing of the past.

— nick sullivan, Esquire, "Vintage Expert Sean Crowley Shares His Tips for Scoring the Perfect Find," 5 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rummage sale.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.