rifle
English
Etymology
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.
Pronunciation
Noun
rifle (plural rifles)
- (weaponry) A shoulder-fired firearm with a long, rifled barrel to improve range and accuracy.
- 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 7, in The Dust of Conflict[1]:
- Still, a dozen men with rifles, and cartridges to match, stayed behind when they filed through a white aldea lying silent amid the cane, and the Sin Verguenza swung into slightly quicker stride.
- 1995, Richard Klein, “Introduction”, in Cigarettes are sublime, Paperback edition, Durham: Duke University Press, published 1993, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 8:
- In the June days of 1848 Baudelaire reports seeing revolutionaries (he might have been one of them) going through the streets of Paris with rifles, shooting all the clocks.
- (military, usually in the plural, dated) A rifleman.
- (weaponry) An artillery piece with a rifled barrel.
- A strip of wood covered with emery or a similar material, used for sharpening scythes.
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
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Verb
rifle (third-person singular simple present rifles, present participle rifling, simple past and past participle rifled)
- (intransitive) To quickly search through many items (such as papers, the contents of a drawer, a pile of clothing). (See also riffle[2])
- She made a mess when she rifled through the stack of papers, looking for the title document.
- (intransitive) To commit robbery or theft.
- 1566, Thomas Harman, A Caveat or Warning for Common Cursitors:
- Thither repair at accustomed times their harlots […] not with empty hands, for they be as skilful in picking, rifling, and filching as the upright men.
- (transitive) To search with intent to steal; to ransack, pillage or plunder.
- Template:RQ:Joseph Hall Paraphrase
- thine enemies […] shall ransack and rifle all the things of Edom; and shall search out all thy hidden commodities, and carry them away at once
- Template:RQ:Joseph Hall Paraphrase
- (transitive) To strip of goods; to rob; to pillage.
- c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:
- Stand, sir, and throw us that you have about ye: / If not, we'll make you sit and rifle you.
- (transitive) To seize and bear away by force; to snatch away; to carry off.
- (transitive) To add a spiral groove to a gun bore to make a fired bullet spin in flight in order to improve range and accuracy.
- (transitive) To cause (a projectile, as a rifle bullet) to travel in a flat ballistic trajectory.
- 2010 December 28, Marc Vesty, “Stoke 0 - 2 Fulham”, in BBC[3]:
- Davies's cross was headed away from danger by Robert Huth, only for Baird to take the ball in his stride and rifle his right-footed effort towards the corner from the edge of the box.
- 2011 Fighting for Gold: The Story of Canada's Sledge Hockey Paralympic Gold by Lorna Schultz Schultz Nicholson
- But a Norwegian player rifled off a point shot that sailed into the back of the net.
- (intransitive) To move in a flat ballistic trajectory (as a rifle bullet).
- 2014: Lights of Summer: The Run for Glory by Alexander Rebelle
- The ball rifled off the bat.
- 2014: Lights of Summer: The Run for Glory by Alexander Rebelle
- (transitive, obsolete) To dispose of in a raffle.
- c. 1600 (date written; first published 1657), attributed to Thomas Dekker, John Day, William Houghton, Lust’s Dominion: Or, The Lascivious Queen. A Tragedie, London: […] J. Chappell, Jun. […], published 1818, →OCLC, Act V, scene i, page 68:
- I've at one throw / Rifled away the diadem of Spain; […]
- 1605, John Webster, Northward Ho
- If you like not that course but intend to be rid of her , rifle her at a tavern , where you may swallow down some fifty wiseacres ' sons and heirs to old tenements and common gardens , like so many raw yolks with muscadine to bedward Kate.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To engage in a raffle.
- 1596, George Chapman, The Blind Beggar of Alexandria:
- We'll strike up a drum, set up a tent, call people together, put crowns apiece, let's rifle for her
Translations
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References
- “rifle”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- “rifle”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
Catalan
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
rifle m (plural rifles)
Further reading
- “rifle” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “rifle”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
- “rifle” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “rifle” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
French
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 2 should be a valid language, etymology language or family code; the value "AE." is not valid. See WT:LOL, WT:LOL/E and WT:LOF. (19th century).
Noun
rifle m (plural rifles)
Related terms
Etymology 2
Verb
rifle
- inflection of rifler:
Further reading
- “rifle”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
Apparently from Middle Low German or Low German riffel, but compare Danish riffel.
Noun
rifle f or m (definite singular rifla or riflen, indefinite plural rifler, definite plural riflene)
- (firearm) a rifle
Derived terms
References
- “rifle” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
As above.
Noun
rifle f (definite singular rifla, indefinite plural rifler, definite plural riflene)
- (firearm) a rifle
Derived terms
References
- “rifle” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Portuguese
Alternative forms
Etymology
From English rifle, from Middle English, from Old French rifler (“to scrape off, plunder”), from Old Low Franconian Old Dutch *rifillon, frequentative of Proto-Germanic *rīfaną.
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "Brazil" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈʁi.fli/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "South Brazil" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈhi.fle/
Noun
rifle m (plural rifles)
- rifle
- Synonyms: escopeta, espingarda, fuzil, refle
Further reading
- “rifle”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024
Spanish
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
rifle m (plural rifles)
Further reading
- “rifle”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
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