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rifle

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ri⋅fle

1  [rahy-fuhl] noun, verb, -fled, -fling.
Use rifle in a Sentence
–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.
Origin:
1745–55; < LG rīfeln to groove, deriv. of rīve, riefe groove, flute, furrow; akin to OE rifelede wrinkled
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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; ME rifel < OF rifler to scratch, strip, plunder

Related forms:
rifler, noun

Synonyms:
1. See rob.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To rifle
ri·fle 1   (rī'fəl)   
n.  

    1. A firearm with a rifled bore, designed to be fired from the shoulder.

    2. An artillery piece or naval gun with such spiral grooves.

  2. rifles Troops armed with rifles.

tr.v.   ri·fled, ri·fling, ri·fles
To cut spiral grooves within (a gun barrel, for example).

[From rifle, to cut spiral grooves in, from French rifler, from Old French, to plunder, scratch; see rifle2.]
ri·fle 2   (rī'fəl)   
v.   ri·fled, ri·fling, ri·fles

v.   tr.

  1. To search with intent to steal.

  2. To ransack or plunder; pillage.

  3. To rob: rifle a safe.

v.   intr.
To search vigorously: rifling through my drawers to find matching socks.

[Middle English riflen, to plunder, from Old French rifler, probably of Germanic origin.]
ri'fler n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

rifle  (n.)
1775, "portable firearm having a spirally grooved bore," used earlier of the grooves themselves (1751), noun use of rifled (pistol), 1689, from verb meaning "to cut spiral grooves in" (a gun barrel), 1635, probably from Fr. rifler, from O.Fr. rifler "to scratch or groove" (see rifle (v.)).

rifle  (v.)
"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, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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