Definition

1. Noun:

   • A firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder: A "rifle" is a type of gun with a long barrel that has spiral grooves (rifling) cut into the bore. This rifling causes the bullet to spin, making the weapon more accurate over longer distances.

2. Verb:

   • To search quickly and roughly through something, especially to steal: To "rifle" means to go through items, such as drawers, bags, or pockets, in a hurried and disorderly manner, typically with the intent to find and take something.
   • To steal goods, especially during a time of disorder: To "rifle" can also mean to take property by force or without permission, often in the context of looting or plundering.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • The hunter carried a high-powered rifle for deer hunting.
  • Soldiers are trained to clean and maintain their rifles.

• Verb (meaning: to search roughly):

  • Someone had rifled through the files on my desk while I was out.
  • She discovered that her luggage had been rifled during the flight.

• Verb (meaning: to steal):

  • Thieves rifled the safe, taking all the cash and jewelry.
  • After the battle, the invading army rifled the town of its valuables.

Advanced Usage

• "To rifle through": This phrasal construction is very common and emphasizes the act of searching hastily and messily.
  • He rifled through the attic, looking for the old photo album.

Variants and Related Words

• Rifling (noun): The spiral grooves cut into the barrel of a gun.
  • The rifling in the barrel imparts a spin to the bullet.
• Rifleman (noun): A soldier armed with a rifle; a person skilled in shooting a rifle.
  • The regiment was composed of expert riflemen.

Synonyms

• Noun: firearm, gun, long gun.
• Verb (to search): ransack, rummage through, comb through.
• Verb (to steal): loot, plunder, pillage, rob.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Rifle through: To search something hastily and untidily.
  • The detective rifled through the suspect's belongings for evidence.

Related Idioms

• None directly associated with the verb form of "rifle." The noun form is sometimes used in military or hunting idioms (e.g., "a crack shot with a rifle"), but these are descriptive phrases rather than fixed idioms.

Noun

1. a shoulder firearm with a long barrel and a rifled bore
   • he lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired

Verb

1. go through in search of something; search through someone's belongings in an unauthorized way
   • Who rifled through my desk drawers?
2. steal goods; take as spoils
   • During the earthquake people looted the stores that were deserted by their owners