# rifle

Pronunciation: say "RY-fuhl" /ˈɹaɪfəl/

## Noun

1. A firearm fired from the shoulder, with a long barrel cut with spiral grooves that improve its range and accuracy.
   - Simple: A long gun that you hold against your shoulder to shoot.
   - _She steadied the rifle against her shoulder and waited for the deer to step clear._
   - _Recruits spent the morning at the range learning to fire their rifles accurately._
10. An artillery piece whose barrel is cut with spiral grooves to spin and stabilize its shells.
   - Simple: A very large army gun, like a cannon, with twisting lines cut inside its barrel.
   - _The battery's three-inch rifle could strike targets two miles away._
   - _Naval rifles aboard the cruiser shelled the coastal defenses._
11. A wooden strip coated with emery or another abrasive, used to sharpen scythes.
   - Simple: A strip of wood with a rough coating, used to sharpen long farm blades.
   - _The mower drew his rifle along the scythe's edge after every few rows._
   - _Sharpening rifles hung from nails in the barn beside the scythes._

## Verb

2. To search quickly through a collection of items, such as papers, the contents of a drawer, or a pile of clothing.
   - Simple: To look through papers, drawers, or bags very quickly to find something.
   - _He rifled through the filing cabinet, looking for the lease._
   - _Customs officers will rifle through your luggage if anything seems off._
3. To cut a spiral groove into the bore of a gun so that a fired bullet spins in flight, improving its range and accuracy.
   - Simple: To cut twisting lines inside a gun barrel so the bullet spins and flies straighter.
   - _Gunsmiths rifle the barrels by drawing a spiral cutter through the bore._
   - _The armory rifled older muskets to extend their effective range._
4. To search through a place, container, or someone's belongings with the intent to steal; to ransack.
   - Simple: To search a place or bag quickly and steal things from it.
   - _Burglars rifled the office overnight, taking laptops and petty cash._
   - _Looters rifle abandoned houses after every major storm._
5. To strip a person or place of goods; to rob or pillage.
   - Simple: To rob a person or place and take everything of value.
   - _Highwaymen rifled the coach passengers of their money and jewelry._
   - _Soldiers were ordered not to rifle the towns they passed through._
6. To commit robbery or theft; to engage in stealing.
   - Simple: To steal things or act as a robber.
   - _Bands of outlaws rifled across the countryside, leaving farms stripped bare._
   - _Men who rifle for a living rarely die in their beds._
7. To seize something and carry it off by force; to snatch away.
   - Simple: To grab something and carry it away by force.
   - _A gull rifled the sandwich straight from her hand._
   - _Spring floods can rifle whole trees from the riverbank and sweep them miles downstream._
8. To cause a projectile, such as a ball or bullet, to travel in a fast, flat trajectory.
   - Simple: To throw, kick, or shoot something very hard, fast, and straight.
   - _The quarterback rifled a pass between two defenders._
   - _Shortstops must rifle the ball to first base in one smooth motion._
9. To move through the air in a fast, flat path, as a bullet fired from a gun does.
   - Simple: To fly very fast, hard, and straight through the air.
   - _Her serve rifled across the court before he could react._
   - _Line drives rifle off aluminum bats at frightening speeds._

## Noun

12. A soldier armed with and trained to fight with a rifle; a rifleman. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A soldier who carries and fights with a rifle.
   - _The colonel posted a rifle at every corner of the camp._
   - _Two hundred rifles held the ridge until nightfall._

## Verb

13. To dispose of something by offering it as the prize in a raffle. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To give something away through a raffle, a game with tickets and a prize.
14. To take part in a raffle; to try for a prize by chance. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To play in a raffle, a game where people buy chances to win a prize.

## Origin

The noun is originally short for "rifled gun," referring to the spiral grooves cut inside the barrel. The word goes back through Middle English riflen ("to rob, plunder, search through") and Old French rifler ("to scratch, scrape off, plunder") to Old High German riffilōn (compare German riffeln "to make grooves in"), a frequentative of Proto-Germanic *rīfaną (compare Old Norse rífa "to tear").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/rifle (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).