rif
verb (used with object)
to discharge (a person) from military or civil service, especially as part of an economy program.
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rif
1 American
[rif]
/ rɪf /
Or
riff
verb (used with object)
Informal.
riffed,
riffing
Rif
2
American
[rif]
/ rɪf /
Or
Riff
noun
RIF
3
American
[rif]
/ rɪf /
noun
-
Military. a reduction in the personnel of an armed service or unit.
-
a reduction in the number of persons employed by a business, government department, etc., especially for budgetary reasons.
Rif
British
/ ˈrɪfɪ, rɪf /
noun
-
a member of a Berber people, inhabiting the Atlas Mountains in Morocco
-
Also called: Rifian. Riffian. the dialect of Berber spoken by this people
-
See Er Rif
Etymology
Origin of rif1
First recorded in 1945–50; special use of RIF
Origin of RIF3
R(eduction) I(n) F(orce)
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.
See Examples For:
Riff-raff.—The refuse of anything, "Il ne lui lairra rif ny raf."
From Notes and Queries, Number 208, October 22, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc by George Bell
Cotgrave in Rif, where rif is said to mean nothing.
From Notes and Queries, Number 208, October 22, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc by George Bell
Philippe of Macedoyne kyng Two Sones hadde be his wif, Whos fame is yit in Grece rif: Demetrius the ferste brother Was hote, and Perse.s that other.
From Confessio Amantis, or, Tales of the Seven Deadly Sins by G. C. (George Campbell) Macaulay
The Education Department said it will use a reduction in force process, known colloquially as a Rif, to reduce staffing levels.
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2025
The earthquake is Morocco's deadliest since a 2004 tremor near Al Hoceima in the northern Rif mountains killed over 600 people.
From Reuters ● Sep. 9, 2023
The Cinéma Rif — an Art Deco movie theater beautifully restored by the Moroccan visual artist Yto Barrada.
From New York Times ● Nov. 23, 2022
“Once here, many will have to face the complexity of life in Israel for non-Jewish migrants,” said Alex Rif, a Ukrainian-born poet and an advocate for Russian speakers in Israel.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 23, 2022
Berbers of the Rif province, in Northern Morocco, make great use of fires at midsummer for the good of themselves, their cattle, and their fruit-trees.
From The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer
"These RIF numbers from the court filing are just a snapshot in time," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2025
“My own staff is largely getting news of GSA’s activities from the press, from a Reddit thread titled ‘GSA RIF Megathread’ — you’ll never hear me say that again — and occasionally from ex-GSA employees.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2025
“Members of the RIF would not have participated” in the killing without his consent, according to the report.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 22, 2021
Send “we the people” a message with RIF notices to half.
From Washington Times ● May 15, 2020
Refusing to treat patients who have experienced repeated implantation failure—the dreaded RIF in fertility circles—can also artificially boost success rates.
From Slate ● Mar. 26, 2014
President Donald Trump riffed on his White House predecessors in a children's podcast Friday, while also joking about his weight and musing as to whether his body is swimsuit-ready.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
Bono has, for decades, riffed on this concept: “America isn’t just a country, it’s an idea.”
From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2026
A third riffed off the album title: “New York all the time. Other places, occasionally.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2026
At a crypto event in June, a video that riffed on an old movie showed Tenev speeding through the French Riviera in a convertible.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2025
Bobby Gene and I riffed about it all the way down the block.
From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon
The audience instantly understands that this is Schoenbrun riffing on their own intellectually minded approach, and that Kris is a self-insert character for the movie’s writer-director.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
The bar is decorated with references to China's AI boom, with logos of the country's major labs on the walls and the menu full of jokes riffing on tech jargon.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
The director said: "As Ryan started talking about his vision for this character, we started riffing, and I finally said, 'bro, let's ride', so guys, we'll see you in 2028."
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
It seems at first too clever for the grim subject matter, riffing on wordplay around “jeans” and “genes,” like the controversial American Eagle advertisements starring Sydney Sweeney from the past year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 13, 2026
We stepped easy, riffing with Styx about our new plan.
From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon
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.
