rifle

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See also: riflé

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
a rifle (Mauser FR-8)

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]

  • IPA(key): /ˈɹaɪfəl/
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)

Noun[edit]

rifle (plural rifles)

  1. 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.
    • 1995, Klein, Richard, “Introduction”, in Cigarettes are sublime, Paperback edition, Durham: Duke University Press, published 1993, →ISBN, 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.
  2. A strip of wood covered with emery or a similar material, used for sharpening scythes.

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

rifle (third-person singular simple present rifles, present participle rifling, simple past and past participle rifled)

  1. To search with intent to steal; to ransack, pillage or plunder.
  2. 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.
  3. To add a spiral to the interior of a gun bore to make a fired bullet spin in flight to improve range and accuracy.
  4. To strike something with great power.
    • 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.
  5. to begin movement at great speed
    • 2014: Lights of Summer: The Run for Glory by Alexander Rebelle
      The ball rifled off the bat.
    • 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.
  6. (intransitive) To commit robbery.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Bishop Hall to this entry?)
  7. (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.
  8. To seize and bear away by force; to snatch away; to carry off.
    • Alexander Pope
      Time shall rifle every youthful grace.
  9. To raffle.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of J. Webster to this entry?)

Translations[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Catalan[edit]

Noun[edit]

rifle m (plural rifles)

  1. rifle

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From American English rifle (19th century).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

rifle m (plural rifles)

  1. rifle (carabine)

Related terms[edit]

Verb[edit]

rifle

  1. first-person singular present indicative of rifler
  2. third-person singular present indicative of rifler
  3. first-person singular present subjunctive of rifler
  4. third-person singular present subjunctive of rifler
  5. second-person singular imperative of rifler

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology[edit]

Apparently from Middle Low German or Low German riffel, but compare Danish riffel.

Noun[edit]

rifle f, m (definite singular rifla or riflen, indefinite plural rifler, definite plural riflene)

  1. (firearm) a rifle

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology[edit]

As above.

Noun[edit]

rifle f (definite singular rifla, indefinite plural rifler, definite plural riflene)

  1. (firearm) a rifle

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

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 Old Dutch *rifillon, frequentative of Proto-Germanic *rīfaną.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

rifle m (plural rifles)

  1. rifle
    Synonyms: escopeta, espingarda, fuzil, refle

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from English rifle.

Noun[edit]

rifle m (plural rifles)

  1. rifle
    Synonym: fusil
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