What does "rifle" mean?

1. (a long firearm) a long gun that you hold against your shoulder when you fire it. 2. (to search through quickly) to search through something quickly and often roughly, especially to find or steal something. 3. (to steal or rob) to steal things from a place or a person. 4. (to make grooves in a barrel) to cut spiral grooves inside the barrel of a gun.

How do you use "rifle"?

Often used with the preposition 'through'.

rifle

n. · v.

US //ˈɹaɪfəɫ// UK //ɹˈaɪfəl// ri·fle

1 a long firearm (n.)
B1 Intermediate

a long gun that you hold against your shoulder when you fire it.

a shoulder-fired firearm with a long barrel containing spiral grooves to improve accuracy and range.

Example

The hunter carried his rifle carefully as he walked through the woods.

Example

The infantry was equipped with modern assault rifles capable of both semi-automatic and burst fire modes for various combat scenarios.
2 to search through quickly (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

to search through something quickly and often roughly, especially to find or steal something.

to search through a collection of items or a container with haste, often involving the displacement of contents.

Example

She had to rifle through her bag to find her car keys.

Example

The burglars had clearly rifled through the desk drawers, leaving a chaotic trail of documents and personal correspondence across the floor.

Usage

Often used with the preposition 'through'.
- rummage
- search
- scour

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3 to steal or rob (v.)
C1 Advanced Literary

to steal things from a place or a person.

to strip a place of goods or to rob someone, typically involving a thorough and aggressive search.

Example

The soldiers began to rifle the abandoned houses for food and valuables.

Example

The invaders proceeded to rifle the treasury, seizing ancient artifacts and gold coins that had been stored there for centuries.
4 to make grooves in a barrel (v.)
C2 Proficiency Technical Technical

to cut spiral grooves inside the barrel of a gun.

to form spiral grooves within the bore of a firearm or artillery piece to impart spin to the projectile.

Example

Special machines are used to rifle the barrels of high-precision target guns.

Example

The decision to rifle the artillery pieces significantly increased the effective range and accuracy of the battery during the siege.
- groove

Origin

Originally short for “rifled gun”, referring to the spiral grooves inside the barrel. From Middle English riflen (“to rob, plunder, search through”), from Old French rifler (“to lightly scratch, scrape off, plunder”), from Old High German riffilōn (compare German riffeln (“to score, make grooves in, ripple”), archaic Dutch rijfelen (“to scrape”), Old English rifelan, riflian (“to wrinkle”)), frequentative of Proto-Germanic *rīfaną (compare Old Norse rífa (“to tear, break”)). More at rive.