rifle

¹ American  

[rahy-fuhl] / ˈraɪ fəl /

noun

• rifles
  plural

1. a shoulder firearm with spiral grooves cut in the inner surface of the gun barrel to give the bullet a rotatory motion and thus a more precise trajectory.

2. one of the grooves.

3. a cannon with such grooves.

4. Often Rifles any of certain military units or bodies equipped with rifles.

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verb (used with object)

rifled, rifling

1. to cut spiral grooves within (a gun barrel, pipe, etc.).

2. to propel (a ball) at high speed, as by throwing or hitting with a bat.

rifle ² American  

[rahy-fuhl] / ˈraɪ fəl /

verb (used with object)

rifled, rifling

1. to ransack and rob (a place, receptacle, etc.).

2. to search and rob (a person).

3. to plunder or strip bare.

4. to steal or take away.

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rifle ¹ British  

/ ˈraɪfəl /

noun

1. 1. a firearm having a long barrel with a spirally grooved interior, which imparts to the bullet spinning motion and thus greater accuracy over a longer range

   2. ( as modifier )

      rifle fire

2. (formerly) a large cannon with a rifled bore

3. one of the grooves in a rifled bore

4. (plural)

   1. a unit of soldiers equipped with rifles

   2. ( capital when part of a name )

      the Rifle Brigade

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verb

1. to cut or mould spiral grooves inside the barrel of (a gun)

2. to throw or hit (a ball) with great speed

rifle ² British  

/ ˈraɪfəl /

verb

1. to search (a house, safe, etc) and steal from it; ransack

2. to steal and carry off

   to rifle goods from a shop

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Synonym Usage

See rob.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• rifler
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• rifles
  plural

Etymology

Origin of rifle¹

An Americanism dating back to 1745–55; from Low German rīfeln “to groove,” derivative of rīve, riefe “groove, flute, furrow”; akin to Old English rifelede “wrinkled”

Origin of rifle²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English rifel, from Old French rifler “to scratch, strip, plunder”

Explanation

A rifle is a long, powerful gun that is fired from the shoulder. A soldier is most often armed with a rifle. Some hunters use rifles, which fire single bullets rather than the small pellets, or shot, that shotguns fire. A rifle can do more damage and is therefore often used in the military. The name comes from the shape of the barrel, which is grooved — or rifled, from the Old French word rifler, "to scratch or groove." Another meaning of rifle comes from the same root but means "to search through things in a hurried way."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rifle rifles rifled rifling

Or with arcane historical trivia, like the magazine capacity of the air rifle Lewis and Clark took on their westward expedition in the early 1800s.

From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026

Moments after he blows out the candle on his cake, John’s father places a rifle in his hands.

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026

Raman effortlessly turned the mayor’s rhetorical traps around like Bugs Bunny twisting Elmer Fudd’s rifle right in his face.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

“It is impossible for anyone to collect every pistol, rifle, and piece of weaponry,” said Yahya Hisham, 41, who was displaced from northern Gaza during the war and is now sheltering in Deir al-Balah.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

I slung my rifle forward as we made our way down the hall and into the valley.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline

A U.S. military intelligence official confirmed that al-Shabaab sought advanced weaponry from the Houthis, in addition to rifles, machine guns and ammunition.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

By arming her mammies with revolvers, rifles and bullets, Saar turned a symbol of servility into one of militancy and power.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

At one point, visitors were prompted to walk in a single file line past two Secret Service officers holding rifles.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

AFP witnessed one volunteer urging soldiers to put down their rifles and help with the rubble removal.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026

He also had over forty pistols and automatic rifles.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers

Barely four minutes after Bellingham’s second goal, the lead was cut in half when England’s defense failed to deal with a free-kick and Mexico forward Julián Quiñones rifled into the roof of the net.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ozcan rifled home from the edge of the box after Orkun Kokcu had set the ball up nicely for him.

From Barron's ● Nov. 18, 2025

After controlling a bobbling pass and setting himself up in one touch, the 21-year-old rifled a hip-height volley on the swivel past Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simon at full stretch.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2025

To lead off the second, Sean Murphy rifled a 106-mph comebacker that Yamamoto snagged with his glove.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2025

She rifled through the wagon until she found Pol’s bow, taking it out to the courtyard.

From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo

Who better to tell the tale of the city than the man who has spent years rifling through its junk?

From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026

But she has deep knowledge of women’s pay: As an economist, she spent years rifling through boxes of surveys and personnel records and tracking down data to document women’s changing role in the workplace.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026

And rifling marks on its driving band confirm it had been fired.

From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026

All of Bezos’ wealth and all of Amazon’s lobbying muscle did not prevent federal agents from rifling through his employee’s home.

From Salon ● Jan. 17, 2026

Diego started rifling under my bed before I could stop him.

From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson

Related Words

• rip