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
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Recent Examples of rifle
Natalie Morales, Richard Fetzer, CBS News, 19 Apr. 2025
The shots, from a rifle and a handgun, struck the suspect in the truck, Márquez said.
—Christian Martinez, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Apr. 2025
Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Mar. 2025
The Tar Heels rifled an inbounds pass down the right side of the court to Seth Trimble, who called timeout with 2.5 seconds left to set up UNC’s pivotal final attempt.
—Brendan Marks, The Athletic, 15 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rifle
Noun
His story was … that Aaron had a rifle and was pointing it at Gavin.
—Natalie Morales, Richard Fetzer, CBS News, 19 Apr. 2025
The shots, from a rifle and a handgun, struck the suspect in the truck, Márquez said.
—Christian Martinez, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Apr. 2025
Verb
At the high school level, attackers rifle shots up to 90 mph.
—Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Mar. 2025
The Tar Heels rifled an inbounds pass down the right side of the court to Seth Trimble, who called timeout with 2.5 seconds left to set up UNC’s pivotal final attempt.
—Brendan Marks, The Athletic, 15 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rifle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rifle
Noun
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An opening montage of video clips ends with an iconic two-shot from the film of their characters, Pedro (Marin) behind the wheel and Man (Chong) riding shotgun, disappearing into a screen full of smoke.—
Adam Tschorn,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2025
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Ferguson was arrested that same night, and police later recovered 48 weapons — including rifles, shotguns, and handguns, and over 26,000 rounds of ammunition — from his home, according to prosecutors.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
23 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The Chargers were searching for a sure-handed, downfield threat.—
Thuc Nhi Nguyen,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Apr. 2025
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Elsewhere, investigators searched the house, the barn and even the pond.—
Susan Mallie,
CBS News,
26 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The gear is museum-worthy – muskets longer than men are tall, coats ranging from rich brocade to dun homespun.—
Melanie Stetson Freeman,
Christian Science Monitor,
17 Apr. 2025
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The men, who’d assembled on the moors hours earlier, were armed with muskets, sticks, hatchets, and heavy blacksmith’s hammers.—
John Cassidy,
New Yorker,
14 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Two brothers, Clint and Evan Buffington, discovered the note while combing the beach.—
Khloe Quill,
FOXNews.com,
30 Apr. 2025
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Tax professionals would comb through product descriptions, technical specifications, and usage details, then use their knowledge of tax laws to assign the correct codes.—
Aleksandra Bal,
Forbes.com,
28 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Beretta traces its history to 1526, when Bartolomeo Beretta (d. 1565), a rifle barrel maker in the small northern Italian town of Gardone, sold 185 arquebus barrels—a handheld long gun and a forerunner to the modern rifle—to the Republic of Venice.—
Giacomo Tognini,
Forbes,
25 Mar. 2025
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The worshipers insisted on congregating to pray at the crucifix in the local church and threatened to shoot with an arquebus – a long gun used during the Renaissance period – anyone who got in their way.—
Hannah Marcus,
The Conversation,
25 Sep. 2020
Verb
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The Annie set has 12 chairs, each designed to look like something that could literally rake through a head of hair.—
Nora Taylor,
Curbed,
23 Apr. 2025
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The cemetery was only sporadically maintained by its caretaker, and raking the long grass gave me the eerie feeling of running my fingers through a child’s hair.—
Hazlitt,
Hazlitt,
2 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Although a gunshot from a flintlock pistol lasts only an eye blink, the sound is composed of numerous elements: the squeeze of the trigger, the strike of the firing mechanism against the flint, the ignition of the powder, the slug’s passage through the barrel, the report, the impact.—
Alexis Soloski,
New York Times,
3 Jan. 2025
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My first rifle had been a flintlock that had been given to me by an old friend, Ed Wesson, the gunsmith.—
Outdoor Life,
Outdoor Life,
23 Nov. 2023
Noun
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First-generation matchlock rifles, tanks, and aircraft had major limitations but improved over time.—
Paul Scharre,
Foreign Affairs,
15 Feb. 2018
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Guns are a part of American life, and have been since the very beginning, from the matchlock muskets arming the earliest colonies to the Colt revolvers and Winchester rifles of the Old West to the Glock handgun of today.—
Kyle Mizokami,
Popular Mechanics,
7 Mar. 2018
Cite this Entry
“Rifle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rifle. Accessed 6 May. 2025.
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