rifle

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See also: riflé

English

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

Etymology

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

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

Noun

rifle (plural rifles)

  1. (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, 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.
  2. (military, usually in the plural, dated) A rifleman.
  3. (weaponry) An artillery piece with a rifled barrel.
  4. A strip of wood covered with emery or a similar material, used for sharpening scythes.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

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  1. (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.
  2. (intransitive) To commit robbery or theft.
  3. (transitive) To search with intent to steal; to ransack, pillage or plunder.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Bishop Hall to this entry?)
  4. (transitive) To strip of goods; to rob; to pillage.
    • (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      Stand, sir, and throw us that you have about ye: / If not, we'll make you sit and rifle you.
  5. (transitive) To seize and bear away by force; to snatch away; to carry off.
    • (Can we date this quote by Alexander Pope and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      Time shall rifle every youthful grace.
  6. (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.
  7. (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.
  8. (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.
  9. (obsolete, transitive) To dispose of in a raffle.
  10. (obsolete, intransitive) To engage in a raffle.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of J. Webster to this entry?)
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

Translations

References

Anagrams

Catalan

Noun

rifle m (plural rifles)

  1. rifle

French

Etymology

From Lua error in Module:parameters at line 307: 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).

Pronunciation

Noun

rifle m (plural rifles)

  1. rifle (carabine)

Verb

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

Anagrams

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

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)

  1. (firearm) a rifle

Derived terms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

As above.

Noun

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

  1. (firearm) a rifle

Derived terms

References

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 307: 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 307: 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 s)

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

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English rifle.

Noun

rifle m (plural rifles)

  1. rifle
    Synonym: fusil

Derived terms

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