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Synonyms

rifling

1 American  
[rahy-fling] / ˈraɪ flɪŋ /

noun

  1. the act or process of cutting spiral grooves in a gun barrel, pipe, etc.

  2. the system of spiral grooves so cut.

rifling 2 American  
[rahy-fling] / ˈraɪ flɪŋ /

noun

  1. the act or process of ransacking or robbing.

rifling British  
/ ˈraɪflɪŋ /

noun

  1. the cutting of spiral grooves on the inside of a firearm's barrel

  2. the series of grooves so cut

"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

Etymology

Origin of rifling1

First recorded in 1790–1800; rifle 1 + -ing 1

Origin of rifling2

rifle 2 + -ing 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

French superstar Mbappe had a goal ruled out for handball moments before Morocco international Ounahi fired Girona ahead, rifling home from just inside the area to stun their illustrious visitors.

From Barron's • Nov. 30, 2025

Still, even in a movie where people are always skulking around rifling through each other’s things, his claim that he chose a drunken late night to confront Maggie about plagiarism sounds inconceivable.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 9, 2025

We meet in Notting Hill's Music and Video Exchange – the shop that kick-started his record collection – and it's only when he starts rifling through the racks that the 50-year-old comes to life.

From BBC • Sep. 15, 2025

He started rifling through the sacks of food they’d pulled off the ship the night before.

From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.