rifle

noun
UK: /ˈraɪ.fəl/
US: /ˈraɪ.fəl/

  1. A long gun that you hold against your shoulder to shoot.

    1. The soldier carried his rifle everywhere. [ ] [ ]
    2. He cleaned his rifle meticulously after the shooting competition to keep it in top condition. [ ] [ ]

  2. A gun with a long barrel that has grooves cut in a twisting pattern inside to make bullets spin as they are fired, resulting in greater accuracy.

    1. The hunter used a high-powered rifle for the deer hunt. [ ] [ ]
    2. Police determined that the crime was committed with a stolen rifle found miles from the scene. [ ] [ ]

Synonyms

gun search ransack loot
rifle transitive-verb

  1. To search quickly through something, often in a careless or disruptive way.

    1. She began to rifle through the drawers. [ ] [ ]
    2. Detectives began to rifle through the suspects apartment in search of relevant evidence. [ ] [ ]

  2. To steal something.

    1. Thieves rifled the store last night. [ ] [ ]
    2. They rifled the museum, taking priceless artifacts and leaving chaos behind. [ ] [ ]

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "rifle" in English means: A long gun that you hold against your shoulder to shoot., A gun with a long barrel that has grooves cut in a twisting pattern inside to make bullets spin as they are fired, resulting in greater accuracy..

The phonetic transcription of "rifle" is /ˈraɪ.fəl/ in British English and /ˈraɪ.fəl/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "rifle": gun, search, ransack, loot.

Example usage of "rifle": "The soldier carried his rifle everywhere.". More examples on the page.