rifle
rifle Lexical Profile
rifle Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A shoulder-fired weapon with a long barrel containing spiral grooves (rifling) that impart spin to the projectile for greater accuracy.
"The Olympic biathlete carefully steadied her rifle before taking the final shot at the target."
• verb
To search thoroughly or aggressively through something, often causing untidiness or with the intent to steal.
"The historian had to rifle through hundreds of dusty boxes to find the original manuscript."
To hit, throw, or kick a ball or object with great force and speed.
"The striker managed to rifle the ball past the goalkeeper into the top corner of the net."
To cut spiral grooves inside the barrel of a gun or tube to improve the accuracy of a projectile.
"Historically, gunsmiths learned to rifle the barrels of their weapons to vastly improve long-range accuracy."
Word Nuance & Usage
The verb 'rifle' (to search thoroughly or destructively) is frequently confused with 'riffle' (to flip lightly and quickly through pages).
• Rhymes for rifle
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from the Old French 'rifler', meaning 'to scratch, graze, or plunder'. The noun referring to a firearm emerged in the 18th century as a shortening of 'rifled gun', describing the spiral grooves cut into the barrel.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.