rifle
- 01 B1 Intermediate
n.a long gun that you hold against your shoulder when you fire it.
n.a shoulder-fired firearm with a long barrel containing spiral grooves to improve accuracy and range.
Simple“The hunter carried his rifle carefully as he walked through the woods.”
In context“The infantry was equipped with modern assault rifles capable of both semi-automatic and burst fire modes for various combat scenarios.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to search through something quickly and often roughly, especially to find or steal something.
v.to search through a collection of items or a container with haste, often involving the displacement of contents.
Simple“She had to rifle through her bag to find her car keys.”
In context“The burglars had clearly rifled through the desk drawers, leaving a chaotic trail of documents and personal correspondence across the floor.”
UsageOften used with the preposition 'through'.
- 03 C1 Advanced
v.to steal things from a place or a person.
v.to strip a place of goods or to rob someone, typically involving a thorough and aggressive search.
Simple“The soldiers began to rifle the abandoned houses for food and valuables.”
In context“The invaders proceeded to rifle the treasury, seizing ancient artifacts and gold coins that had been stored there for centuries.”
- 04 C2 Proficiency
v.to cut spiral grooves inside the barrel of a gun.
v.to form spiral grooves within the bore of a firearm or artillery piece to impart spin to the projectile.
Simple“Special machines are used to rifle the barrels of high-precision target guns.”
In context“The decision to rifle the artillery pieces significantly increased the effective range and accuracy of the battery during the siege.”
Synonyms
“The first - from the start of November - covers types of handguns, shotguns and rifles.”
“And on a hunting trip planned as a family bonding exercise, Luke finds himself aiming a rifle at his father, Don.”
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.