as in shotgun
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as in to search
to look through (as a place) carefully or thoroughly in an effort to find or discover something
rifled the desk drawer in search of the insurance policy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rifle
Emerson Clarridge
updated February 6, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 Feb. 2026
Footage of the search appears to show officers pulling a blue rifle from the front passenger floorboard.
—Jason Green, Mercury News, 7 Feb. 2026
Oc Register, 5 Jan. 2026
Tampa Bay erased a one-goal deficit when Jake Guentzel got behind Florida’s special teams backline and rifled a short past Sergei Bobrovsky.
—Adam H. Beasley, Miami Herald, 28 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rifle
Noun
Two days after Jamarrien Monroe and his 5-year-old cousin were killed, police arrested Tyreion Nixon-Clark in connection with an unrelated homicide motivated by robbery in which the suspect arranged a meeting that the victim thought was to be a rifle sale, authorities said.
—Emerson Clarridge
updated February 6, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 Feb. 2026
Footage of the search appears to show officers pulling a blue rifle from the front passenger floorboard.
—Jason Green, Mercury News, 7 Feb. 2026
Verb
Ovechkin then rifled home a wrister from the left circle to end a four-game goal drought and give the hosts a 5-1 lead near the midpoint of the second period.
—Oc Register, 5 Jan. 2026
Tampa Bay erased a one-goal deficit when Jake Guentzel got behind Florida’s special teams backline and rifled a short past Sergei Bobrovsky.
—Adam H. Beasley, Miami Herald, 28 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rifle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rifle
Noun
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Four-receiver sets, a shotgun formation and breakneck tempo were foreign to Faulkner.—
Edgar Thompson,
The Orlando Sentinel,
7 Feb. 2026
-
After Lynch’s run and the Seahawks’ unsettled substitutions, Wilson got to the line in a shotgun formation with Lynch to his left.—
Jeff Howe,
New York Times,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Just search The Outside Podcast on YouTube to enjoy these chitchats with your eyes as well as your ears.—
Outside Online,
Outside Online,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Give it a Google search Law enforcement, government officials, think tanks and academics have spent two decades searching for evidence of noncitizens voting.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Then the French started to standardize their muskets.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
4 Feb. 2026
-
His 134 men were armed with musket, cartridge pouch, and sword in case of a hostile encounter, and the Africaansche Galey lay close by with a couple of small cannon brought forward on the bow.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
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For nearly three years, Dillard combed private databases, accessing records of 911 calls made during automobile accidents, officials said.—
Leonard Greene,
New York Daily News,
6 Feb. 2026
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Juno, which for nine years divided its time between observing Jupiter and studying its moons, has beamed back plenty of data for scientists to comb through even after the orbiter's primary mission came to an end in 2025.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Smoke billowed from his flintlock and Rhoades didn’t see where the buck ran after the shot.—
Bob McNally,
Outdoor Life,
28 Jan. 2026
-
The flintlock pistol that Torres is given by the Yautja to fight his fellow prisoners is known by Predator fans as the Raphael Adolini 1715 pistol for an engraved plate that says just that.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
13 June 2025
Verb
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Just ask DePaul-area resident Janice Hughes, who claims she was rear-ended by a Coco robot while raking the parkway in front of her home.—
Robert Channick,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Feb. 2026
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Alongside the bodies of martyrs from Iran’s past wars, the dusty earth of Behesht-e Zahra cemetery now cradles the remains of protesters killed in January’s protests, the latest conflict to rake Iran’s streets.—
Frederik Pleitgen,
CNN Money,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
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This tank is potentially equipped with a 130mm smoothbore gun.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
With feverish speed and characteristic blunderbuss, President Donald Trump has given the federal government – and himself – unprecedented control over private economic decisions.—
Matthew Mitchell,
Twin Cities,
28 Sep. 2025
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Trump would also stop treating the Europeans as enemies with his blunderbuss tariffs.—
Trudy Rubin,
Mercury News,
15 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rifle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rifle. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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