assault rifle

American  

noun

• assault rifles
  plural

1. a military rifle capable of both automatic and semiautomatic fire, utilizing an intermediate-power cartridge.

2. a nonmilitary weapon modeled on the military assault rifle, usually modified to allow only semiautomatic fire.

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assault rifle British  

noun

1. a semiautomatic firearm with additional features such as a large magazine, a bayonet fitting, etc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• assault rifles
  plural

Etymology

Origin of assault rifle

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

assault rifle

In October 2023, Manunya tattooed a Kalashnikov assault rifle onto the forearm of a colleague.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

Sukram Ursa, 21, who surrendered in December, said he had swapped his assault rifle for a government-gifted mobile phone.

From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026

The Kalashnikov assault rifle is the standard-issue weapon for all military and law-enforcement branches in Iran.

From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026

Borisov is already well-known in Russia, having won a Golden Eagle award for the 2020 film “AK-47,” in which he played Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the well-known assault rifle.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2025

As PFCs or Spec 4s, most of them were common grunts and carried the standard M-16 gas-operated assault rifle.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien