WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Ri"fle
Part of Speech : v.
Etymology : [F. rifler to rifle, sweep away; of uncertain origin. CF. Raff.]
Definition : 1. To seize and bear away by force; to snatch away; to carry off. Till time shall rifle every youthful grace. Pope.

2. To strip; to rob; to pillage. Piers Plowman. Stand, sir, and throw us that you have about ye: If not, we'll make you sit and rifle you. Shak.

3. To raffle. [Obs.] J. Webster.

t. [imp. & p. p. Rifled; p. pr. & vb. n. Rifling.]
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

Pronunciation : Ri"fle
Part of Speech : v.
Definition : 1. To raffle. [Obs.] Chapman.

2. To commit robbery. [R.] Bp. Hall.

i.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

Pronunciation : Ri"fle
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [Akin to Dan. rifle, or riffel, the rifle of a gun, a chamfer (cf. riffel, riffelb?sse, a rifle gun, rifle to rifle a gun, G. riefeln, riefen, to chamfer, groove), and E. rive. See Rive, and cf. Riffle, Rivel.]
Definition : 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 As a military firearm it has superseded the musket.

2. pl. (Mil.)

Defn: A body of soldiers armed with rifles.

3. A strip of wood covered with emery or a similar material, used for sharpening scythes. Rifle pit (Mil.), a trench for sheltering sharpshooters.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

Pronunciation : Ri"fle
Part of Speech : v.
Definition : 1. To grove; to channel; especially, to groove internally with spiral channels; as, to rifle a gun barrel or a cannon.

2. To whet with a rifle. See Rifle, n., 3.

t.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913