rifle
1a 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.
one of the grooves.
a cannon with such grooves.
Often Rifles . any of certain military units or bodies equipped with rifles.
to cut spiral grooves within (a gun barrel, pipe, etc.).
to propel (a ball) at high speed, as by throwing or hitting with a bat.
Origin of rifle
1Other definitions for rifle (2 of 2)
to ransack and rob (a place, receptacle, etc.).
to search and rob (a person).
to plunder or strip bare.
to steal or take away.
Origin of rifle
2synonym study For rifle
Other words from rifle
- rifler, noun
Words that may be confused with rifle
- riffle, rifle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use rifle in a sentence
Hovering above the scene, commandos in helicopters were poised with automatic rifles.
We raced so fast that our rifles dropped out of our shoulders and lazily down to our sides.
Are you aware that it is fairly common for people to build their own unregistered rifles out of 80 percent receivers?
“We were looking at 10 men with rifles, and then the beating began,” the survivor would later testify.
He lists them starting with modern sniper rifles going all the way up to anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.
All our people were well mounted, and armed with rifles, pistols, and bowie-knives.
At last the report of several rifles from the island of trees gave us a clue to the mystery.
During the night the whole regiment went over to the rebels with their rifles and accoutrements.
The Philippine Islands | John ForemanFormerly the outlaws had only bowie-knives and a few fowling-pieces; now they have an ample supply of rifles.
The Philippine Islands | John ForemanThe Moros possessed a large number of Remington rifles, looted from the Spaniards, on whom they had often made surprise raids.
The Philippine Islands | John Foreman
British Dictionary definitions for rifle (1 of 2)
/ (ˈraɪfəl) /
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
(as modifier): rifle fire
(formerly) a large cannon with a rifled bore
one of the grooves in a rifled bore
(plural)
a unit of soldiers equipped with rifles
(capital when part of a name): the Rifle Brigade
to cut or mould spiral grooves inside the barrel of (a gun)
to throw or hit (a ball) with great speed
Origin of rifle
1British Dictionary definitions for rifle (2 of 2)
/ (ˈraɪfəl) /
to search (a house, safe, etc) and steal from it; ransack
to steal and carry off: to rifle goods from a shop
Origin of rifle
2Derived forms of rifle
- rifler, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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