rifle
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)
- (weaponry) A shouldered 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, 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.
- (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[edit]
Descendants[edit]
Translations[edit]
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Verb[edit]
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.
- 1633, Joseph Hall, A paraphrase upon the hard texts of Scripture
- 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
- 1633, Joseph Hall, A paraphrase upon the hard texts of Scripture
- (transitive) To strip of goods; to rob; to pillage.
- c. 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, “The VVinters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [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.
- 1715–1720, Homer; [Alexander] Pope, transl., “Book I”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], OCLC 670734254:
- Time shall rifle every youthful grace.
- (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 13145391, 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[edit]
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References[edit]
- rifle at OneLook Dictionary Search
- “rifle” in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Anagrams[edit]
Catalan[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
rifle m (plural rifles)
Further reading[edit]
- “rifle” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “rifle”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2022
- “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[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From American English rifle (19th century).
Noun[edit]
rifle m (plural rifles)
Related terms[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
Verb[edit]
rifle
- inflection of rifler:
Further reading[edit]
- “rifle”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams[edit]
Norwegian Bokmål[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Apparently from Middle Low German or Low German riffel, but compare Danish riffel.
Noun[edit]
rifle f or m (definite singular rifla or riflen, indefinite plural rifler, definite plural riflene)
- (firearm) a rifle
Derived terms[edit]
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
Derived terms[edit]
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 Old Dutch *rifillon, frequentative of Proto-Germanic *rīfaną.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
rifle m (plural rifles)
- rifle
- Synonyms: escopeta, espingarda, fuzil, refle
Further reading[edit]
- “rifle” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.
Spanish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
rifle m (plural rifles)
Further reading[edit]
- “rifle”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Old Dutch
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/aɪfəl
- Rhymes:English/aɪfəl/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Weapons
- English terms with quotations
- en:Military
- English dated terms
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with obsolete senses
- en:Firearms
- Catalan terms borrowed from English
- Catalan terms derived from English
- Catalan 2-syllable words
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan nouns
- Catalan masculine nouns
- ca:Firearms
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms borrowed from American English
- French terms derived from American English
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French masculine nouns
- French countable nouns
- French non-lemma forms
- French verb forms
- fr:Firearms
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål feminine nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål masculine nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns with multiple genders
- nb:Firearms
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk feminine nouns
- nn:Firearms
- Portuguese terms borrowed from English
- Portuguese terms derived from English
- Portuguese terms derived from Middle English
- Portuguese terms derived from Old French
- Portuguese terms derived from Old Dutch
- Portuguese terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese nouns
- pt:Firearms
- Spanish terms borrowed from English
- Spanish terms derived from English
- Spanish 2-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish masculine nouns
- es:Firearms
- es:Weapons