rifle 1 of 2

noun

Definition of riflenext
as in shotgun

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rifle

2 of 2

verb

ˈrī-fəl How to pronounce rifle (audio)
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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rifle
Noun
Walters then displayed the rifle and threatened the woman before leaving, sheriff’s officials said. — Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 20 Oct. 2026 Colin Gray bought his son an AR-15-style rifle later that year. — Eric Levenson, CNN Money, 20 Oct. 2026
Verb
About four minutes into the match, Manu Koné—curiously alone at the top of Norway’s box—trapped a clearance attempt and rifled a shot on goal, which Norway’s keeper, Egil Selvik, diving, punched away. — Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 27 June 2026 Vinícius exchanged passes with Bruno Guimarães on the left flank, took touches to make space and rifled a right-footed shot past the outstretched arm of Yassine Bounou for his 10th international goal. — CBS News, 13 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for rifle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rifle
  1. shotgun
  2. search
  3. musket
  4. comb
  5. flintlock
  6. rake
  7. smoothbore
  8. blunderbuss
Noun
  • The teacher bolted from the room as the shooter reached for his shotgun.
    — Russ Bynum, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Mark Middleton, 59, (May 2022) — died of a shotgun wound and hanging at the Heifer ranch in Perryville, Arkansas.
    — Julie K. Brown, Miami Herald, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of shotgun
Verb
  • Despite having no last name or city or state to go off of, Ippolito searched the couple’s wedding date online and found the California bride’s obituary.
    — Allison Kiehl, Chicago Tribune, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Sam Wasson, one of Hollywood’s preeminent historians and biographers, has published searching books on the lives and works of Francis Ford Coppola, Paul Mazursky, Blake Edwards and Roman Polanski.
    — Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of search
Noun
  • There were about sixty of them aboard the Cuyahoga Packet, and they were armed with swords and muskets.
    — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 27 Oct. 2026
  • The ink came from the buds of oak leaves, swollen to the size of musket balls by the eggs of wasps.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of musket
Verb
  • The three granddaughters combing every corner of Victoria’s House—familiar terrain.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Police arrested him again in April 2023 and started combing through the forest more systematically and exhuming mass graves.
    — Jefferson Kahinju Reuters, Arkansas Online, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of comb
Noun
  • Smoke billowed from his flintlock and Rhoades didn’t see where the buck ran after the shot.
    — Bob McNally, Outdoor Life, 28 Jan. 2026
  • Modern gun technologies are far, far more deadly than the one-shot flintlocks of the 18th century—shouldn’t that matter?
    — Robert J. Spitzer, Time, 6 June 2023
Definition of flintlock
Verb
  • For some homeowners, that means raking or blowing leaves and putting them into composting bags or on the side of the road to be hauled off to municipal compost centers.
    — Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 18 Oct. 2026
  • The lines are chalked, the grass is cut and the dirt has been raked.
    — OutKick, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of rake
Noun
  • Challenger 3 drives demand The new facility will support Britain’s Challenger 3 tank program, which will use a 120mm smoothbore gun.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 22 Oct. 2026
  • At least three states — Hawaii, Ohio and North Dakota — treat a smoothbore musket the same as an AK-47 or AR-15.
    — Allen G. Breed, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2026
Definition of smoothbore
Noun
  • The blunderbuss of violations of the basic decorum and dignity of democracy have become such a daily matter that the increasingly familiar response is to sigh and surrender.
    — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Trump would also stop treating the Europeans as enemies with his blunderbuss tariffs.
    — Trudy Rubin, Mercury News, 15 Aug. 2025
Definition of blunderbuss

Browse Nearby Words

riffs
rifle
rifled
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Cite this Entry

“Rifle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rifle. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about rifle

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