Etymology : Middle English, from Middle French rifler to scratch, file, plunder, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German riffilOn to saw, obsolete Dutch rijffelen to scrape
Pronunciation : rI-f&l
Function : verb
Date : 14th century
1. firearm with spiral grooves carved inside the gun barrel (causes the bullet to spin and improves accuracy). steal, seize; search frantically, rummage, ransack; empty, take away. rifle\ri"fle\ , v. t. [imp. & p. p. rifled ; p. pr. & vb. n. rifling .] [f. rifler to rifle, sweep away; of uncertain origin. cf. raff.].
2. to seize and bear away by force; to snatch away; to carry off. till time shall rifle every youthful grace.
3. to strip; to rob; to pillage. stand, sir, and throw us that you have about ye: if not, we'll make you sit and rifle you.
4. to raffle. [obs.] webster.rifle \ri"fle\, v. i.
5. to raffle. [obs.].
6. to commit robbery. [r.] hall.rifle \ri"fle\, n. [akin to dan. rifle, or riffel, the rifle of a gun, a chamfer (cf. riffel, riffelb?sse, a rifle gun, rifle to rifle a gun, g. riefeln, riefen, to chamfer, groove), and e. rive. see:
rive, and cf. riffle, rivel.].
7. a gun, the inside of whose barrel is grooved with spiral channels, thus giving the ball a rotary motion and insuring greater accuracy of fire. as a military firearm it has superseded the musket.
8. pl. (mil.) a body of soldiers armed with rifles.
9. a strip of wood covered with emery or a similar material, used for sharpening scythes.rifle pit (mil.), a trench for sheltering sharpshooters.rifle \ri"fle\ , v. t.
10. to grove; to channel; especially, to groove internally with spiral channels; as, to rifle a gun barrel or a cannon.
11. to whet with a rifle. see:
rifle, n., 3.rifle a shoulder firearm with a long barrel and a rifled bore; "he lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired" v.
12. steal goods; take as spoils; "during the earthquake people looted the stores that were deserted by their owners" [syn: plunder, despoil, loot, reave, strip, ransack, pillage, foray].
13. go through in search of something; search through someone's belongings in an unauthorized way; "who rifled through my desk drawers?" [syn: go].
14. To seize and bear away by force; to snatch away; to carry off.
15. To strip; to rob; to pillage.
16. To raffle.
17. To commit robbery.
18. A gun, the inside of whose barrel is grooved with spiral channels, thus giving the ball a rotary motion and insuring greater accuracy of fire.
19. As a military firearm it has superseded the musket.
20. A body of soldiers armed with rifles.
21. A strip of wood covered with emery or a similar material, used for sharpening scythes.
22. To grove; to channel; especially, to groove internally with spiral channels; as, to rifle a gun barrel or a cannon.
23. To whet with a rifle.
24. See Rifle, n., 3. a shoulder firearm with a long barrel and a rifled bore; "he lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired" go through in search of something; search through someone's belongings in an unauthorized way; "Who rifled through my desk drawers?".
25. 1. A rifle is a gun with a long barrel. They shot him at point blank range with an automatic rifle.
26. If you rifle through things or rifle them, you make a quick search among them in order to find something or steal something. I discovered my husband rifling through the filing cabinet There were lockers by each seat and I quickly rifled the contents. rifle through to search a place or container quickly because you are looking for something, especially something to steal. Firearm whose barrel is rifled (i.e., has spiral grooves cut inside it to give a spin to the projectile). Though usually applied to a weapon fired from the shoulder, the name can also refer to a rifled cannon. Rifled firearms date to at least the 15th century, when it was discovered that imparting a spin to the bullet improved its range and accuracy. The earliest muzzle-loading rifles were more difficult to load than smoothbore muskets, but the invention of metallic cartridges made possible the development of breech-loading mechanisms. Bolt-action rifles, which use a manually operated cylinder to drive the cartridge into the rifle's chamber, are the most common type for hunting. See also assault rifle. assault rifle M16 rifle National Rifle Association Springfield rifle.