Examples of rifle in a Sentence
Verb (1)
rifled the desk drawer in search of the insurance policy
Recent Examples on the Web
James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
The pair combined again shortly after the hour-mark, with City’s new signings teeing up Haaland by cutting the ball back across the box, before the Norwegian rifled the ball past Sa.
—Dan Cancian, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025
David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 22 Sep. 2025
In March 2022, police were breaking up fights in that same block of Caldwell Street in a parking lot outside Brooklyn Lounge when a man got a rifle and began firing at officers.
—Charlotte Observer, 21 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rifle
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Verb
Without Jeanty being able to rifle off chunk yardage on downs, the team will remain one-dimensional behind the arm of Smith.
—James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
The pair combined again shortly after the hour-mark, with City’s new signings teeing up Haaland by cutting the ball back across the box, before the Norwegian rifled the ball past Sa.
—Dan Cancian, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025
Noun
The witness said the rifle in Routh’s possession has an effective range of 1,150 feet, well over the distance between the hiding spot and the sixth hole.
—David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 22 Sep. 2025
In March 2022, police were breaking up fights in that same block of Caldwell Street in a parking lot outside Brooklyn Lounge when a man got a rifle and began firing at officers.
—Charlotte Observer, 21 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rifle
Cite this Entry
“Rifle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rifle. Accessed 22 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
rifle
2 of 4 verb
rifled; rifling
-f(ə-)liŋ 
: to cut spiral grooves on the inside of a barrel of
rifled arms
rifle
3 of 4 noun1
a
: a weapon with a long rifled barrel that is designed to be fired from the shoulder
b
: a rifled artillery piece
2
plural
: a body of soldiers armed with rifles
Etymology
Verb
Middle English riflen "to steal or carry away by force," from early French rifler "to scrape off, plunder"; of Germanic origin
Verb
perhaps from French rifler "to scratch, file," from early French, "to scrape off, plunder"
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