Rifle Definition

rīfəl
rifled, rifles, rifling
noun
rifles
A gun, fired from the shoulder, with spiral grooves cut into the inner surface of the barrel.
Webster's New World
A rifled artillery piece.
Webster's New World
Troops armed with rifles.
Webster's New World

A strip of wood covered with emery or a similar material, used for sharpening scythes.

Wiktionary
verb
rifled, rifles, rifling
To cut spiral grooves on the inside of (a gun barrel, etc.)
Webster's New World
To search hurriedly, sometimes with dishonest intent.
To rifle through a stranger's purse.
Webster's New World
To search (an area or container, for example) thoroughly, especially using the hands with the intent to steal or remove something.
Rifled the desk, looking for the keys.
American Heritage
To hurl or throw with great speed.
Webster's New World
To search and rob (a person)
Webster's New World
Antonyms:

Other Word Forms of Rifle

Noun

Singular:
rifle
Plural:
rifles

Origin of Rifle

  • Middle English, from Old French rifler (“to scrape off, plunder"), from Old Low Franconian *riffilōn (compare obsolete Dutch rijffelen 'to scrape', Old English geriflian (“to wrinkle"), Middle High German riffeln (“to scratch, heckle (flax)"), Old High German riffilōn (“to saw, rub apart")), frequentative of Proto-Germanic *rÄ«fanÄ… (compare Old Norse rifa (“to tear, break")). More at rive.

    From Wiktionary

  • From rifle to cut spiral grooves in from French rifler from Old French to plunder, scratch rifle2

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English riflen to plunder from Old French rifler probably of Germanic origin

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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