Nearby Words

Rifles

[rahy-fuhl] Origin

ri·fle

1[rahy-fuhl] noun, verb, -fled, -fling.
noun
1.
a shoulder firearm with spiral grooves cut in the inner surface of the gun barrel to give the bullet a rotatory motion and thus a more precise trajectory.
2.
one of the grooves.
3.
a cannon with such grooves.
4.
(often initial capital letter) rifles, any of certain military units or bodies equipped with rifles.
verb (used with object)
5.
to cut spiral grooves within (a gun barrel, pipe, etc.).
6.
to propel (a ball) at high speed, as by throwing or hitting with a bat.

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Rifles is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

Origin:
1745–55; < Low German rīfeln to groove, derivative of rīve, riefe groove, flute, furrow; akin to Old English rifelede wrinkled
Dictionary.com Unabridged

ri·fle

2[rahy-fuhl]
verb (used with object), -fled, -fling.
1.
to ransack and rob (a place, receptacle, etc.).
2.
to search and rob (a person).
3.
to plunder or strip bare.
4.
to steal or take away.

Origin:
1325–75; Middle English rifel < Old French rifler to scratch, strip, plunder

ri·fler, noun


1. See rob.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To Rifles
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

rifle
"to plunder," 1326 (implied in rifling), from O.Fr. rifler "strip, plunder," lit. "to graze, scratch," probably from a Gmc. source (cf. O.E. geriflian "to wrinkle," O.H.G. riffilon "to tear by rubbing," O.N. rifa "to tear, break").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature