From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
rifle
n : a shoulder firearm with a long barrel and a rifled bore; "he
lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired"
v 1: steal goods; take as spoils; "During the earthquake people
looted the stores that were deserted by their owners"
[syn: plunder, despoil, loot, reave, strip,
ransack, pillage, foray]
2: go through in search of something; search through someone's
belongings in an unauthorized way; "Who rifled through my
desk drawers?" [syn: go]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Rifle \Ri"fle\, v. t.
1. To grove; to channel; especially, to groove internally
with spiral channels; as, to rifle a gun barrel or a
cannon.
[1913 Webster]
2. To whet with a rifle. See Rifle, n., 3.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Rifle \Ri"fle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rifled; p. pr. & vb. n.
Rifling.] [F. rifler to rifle, sweep away; of uncertain
origin. CF. Raff.]
1. To seize and bear away by force; to snatch away; to carry
off.
[1913 Webster]
Till time shall rifle every youthful grace. --Pope.
[1913 Webster]
2. To strip; to rob; to pillage. --Piers Plowman.
[1913 Webster]
Stand, sir, and throw us that you have about ye:
If not, we'll make you sit and rifle you. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. To raffle. [Obs.] --J. Webster.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Rifle \Ri"fle\, v. i.
1. To raffle. [Obs.] --Chapman.
[1913 Webster]
2. To commit robbery. [R.] --Bp. Hall.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Rifle \Ri"fle\, n. [Akin to Dan. rifle, or riffel, the rifle of
a gun, a chamfer (cf. riffel, riffelb["o]sse, a rifle gun,
rifle to rifle a gun, G. riefeln, riefen, to chamfer,
groove), and E. rive. See Rive, and cf. Riffle, Rivel.]
1. A gun, the inside of whose barrel is grooved with spiral
channels, thus giving the ball a rotary motion and
insuring greater accuracy of fire. As a military firearm
it has superseded the musket.
[1913 Webster]
2. pl. (Mil.) A body of soldiers armed with rifles.
[1913 Webster]
3. A strip of wood covered with emery or a similar material,
used for sharpening scythes.
[1913 Webster]
Rifle pit (Mil.), a trench for sheltering sharpshooters.
[1913 Webster]