rifle
See also: riflé
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Originally short for "rifled gun", referring to the spiral grooves inside the barrel. From Middle English, from Old French rifler (“to scrape off, plunder”), from Old Dutch *riffilōn (compare archaic Dutch rijfelen (“to scrape”), Old English geriflian (“to wrinkle”)), frequentative of Proto-Germanic *rīfaną (compare Old Norse rífa (“to tear, break”)). More at rive.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
rifle (plural rifles)
- A long firearm firing a single projectile, usually with a rifled barrel to improve 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.
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1995, Klein, Richard, “Introduction”, in Cigarettes are sublime, Paperback edition, Durham: Duke University Press, published 1993, ISBN 0-8223-1641-2, OCLC 613939086, 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.
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- A strip of wood covered with emery or a similar material, used for sharpening scythes.
Translations[edit]
firearm with a rifled barrel
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Derived terms[edit]
Verb[edit]
rifle (third-person singular simple present rifles, present participle rifling, simple past and past participle rifled)
- To search with intent to steal; to ransack, pillage or plunder.
- To scan many items (especially papers) in a set, quickly. (See also riffle[2])
- She made a mess when she rifled through the stack of papers, looking for the title document.
- To add a spiral to the interior of a gun bore to make a fired bullet spin in flight to improve range and accuracy.
- To strike something with great power.
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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.
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- (intransitive) To commit robbery.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Bishop Hall to this entry?)
- (transitive) To strip of goods; to rob; to pillage.
- Shakespeare
- Stand, sir, and throw us that you have about ye: / If not, we'll make you sit and rifle you.
- Shakespeare
- To seize and bear away by force; to snatch away; to carry off.
- Alexander Pope
- Time shall rifle every youthful grace.
- Alexander Pope
- To raffle.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of J. Webster to this entry?)
Translations[edit]
to search through
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to add a spiral to the interior of the bore of a gun
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Anagrams[edit]
French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From American English rifle (19th century).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
rifle m (plural rifles)
Related terms[edit]
Verb[edit]
rifle
- first-person singular present indicative of rifler
- third-person singular present indicative of rifler
- first-person singular present subjunctive of rifler
- third-person singular present subjunctive of rifler
- second-person singular imperative of rifler
Anagrams[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “rifle” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Norwegian Bokmål[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Apparently from Middle Low German or Low German riffel, but compare with Danish riffel.
Noun[edit]
rifle f, m (definite singular rifla or riflen, indefinite plural rifler, definite plural riflene)
- (firearm) a rifle
References[edit]
- “rifle” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]
Etymology[edit]
As above.
Noun[edit]
rifle f (definite singular rifla, indefinite plural rifler, definite plural riflene)
- (firearm) a rifle
References[edit]
- “rifle” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Portuguese[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From English rifle, from Middle English, from Old French rifler (“to scrape off, plunder”), from Old Low Franconian *rifillon, frequentative of Proto-Germanic *rīfaną.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
rifle m (plural rifles)
Synonyms[edit]
Spanish[edit]
Noun[edit]
rifle m (plural rifles)
Synonyms[edit]
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Old Dutch
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- Requests for quotation/Bishop Hall
- English transitive verbs
- Requests for quotation/J. Webster
- en:Firearms
- en:Weapons
- French terms derived from American English
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French masculine nouns
- French countable nouns
- French non-lemma forms
- French verb forms
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- nb:Firearms
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- nn:Firearms
- Portuguese terms derived from English
- Portuguese terms derived from Middle English
- Portuguese terms derived from Old French
- Portuguese terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese nouns
- pt:Firearms
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- es:Firearms
- es:Weapons
