Rifle Meaning
/ˈɹaɪfəl/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA firearm fired from the shoulder; improved range and accuracy is provided by a long, rifled barrel.
nounA rifleman.
Sentence Examples
A rifle shot broke the peace of the early morning.
Benjamin shot a bear with a rifle.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The hunter carried a long ____ on his back during the expedition.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The soldier cleaned his ____ carefully before the morning inspection to ensure it was in perfect condition.
Word Origin & History
Originally short for “rifled gun”, referring to the spiral grooves inside the barrel. From Middle English riflen (“to rob, plunder, search through”), from Old French rifler (“to lightly scratch, scrape off, plunder”), from Old High German riffilōn (compare German riffeln (“to score, make grooves in, ripple”), archaic Dutch rijfelen (“to scrape”), Old English rifelan, riflian (“to wrinkle”)), frequentative of Proto-Germanic *rīfaną (compare Old Norse rífa (“to tear, break”)). More at rive.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 7, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:
"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."
— 1995, Richard Klein, “Introduction”, in Cigarettes are sublime, Paperback edition, Durham: Duke University Press, published 1993, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 8:
"Thither repair at accustomed times their harlots […] not with empty hands, for they be as skilful in picking, rifling, and filching as the upright men."
— 1566, Thomas Harman, A Caveat or Warning for Common Cursitors:
"thine enemies […]shall ransack and rifle all the things of Edom; and shall search out all thy hidden commodities, and carry them away at once"
— 1633, Joseph Hall, A paraphrase upon the hard texts of Scripture:
"Stand, sir, and throw us that you have about ye: / If not, we'll make you sit and rifle you."
— c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The hunter carried a long ____ on his back during the expedition.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The soldier cleaned his ____ carefully before the morning inspection to ensure it was in perfect condition.