Rootle

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To dig or turn over soil with a snout or pointed tool ; to search through a place or container by moving things around
2. To burrow and turn up earth like a pig with its nose ; to hunt through or examine items by poking and prodding
3. To poke and dig into ground or dirt ; to rummage about in search of something by shifting through contents

Etymology: "Rootle" is a plain formation: an older verb "root" (meaning to dig, or to turn up the ground with the snout or hands) plus the frequentative suffix "-le," which adds the sense of repeated, back-and-forth action. So rooting over and over, in small scraping movements, becomes rootling. The same suffix appears in words like "twinkle" (from a base meaning to blink or flicker) and "dazzle" (from "daze"), where repetition is built into the verb's sense. The word's core idea is therefore one of persistent poking rather than a single decisive dig. A pig turning over soil, or a person shifting through a drawer or bag item by item, is doing exactly this kind of repeated probing, which is why the verb fits both literal and figurative uses.

Synonyms: rummage, root, grub