Winchester rifle

American  

noun

1. a type of magazine rifle, first made in about 1866.

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Winchester rifle British  

noun

1. Often shortened to: Winchester.  a breech-loading lever-action repeating rifle with a tubular magazine under the barrel

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Etymology

Origin of Winchester rifle

1870–75; named after D. F. Winchester (1810–80), American manufacturer

Example Sentences

One is the Winchester Mystery House, a 160-room mansion the widow of the Winchester rifle company founder kept expanding over a century ago reportedly to appease spirits of the gun’s victims.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 2026

Lin McAdam wins a sharp-shooting contest and claims a Winchester rifle as a prize.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 13, 2019

Pickard's grandfather gave her a Winchester rifle when she was in middle school, she tells me, and she grew up listening to Sean Hannity on her dad's car radio.

From BBC • Oct. 23, 2018

In “Winchester,” out now, you play a woman haunted by the ghosts of people killed by the Winchester rifle.

From New York Times • Mar. 2, 2018

They tied up their horses and were heading inside when the sergeant asked Tom where his Winchester rifle was.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann