as in searched
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
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Recent Examples of rifled
Curtis was grabbing Hernandez, while Strickland rifled off multiple punches.
—
James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2025
The pair combined again shortly after the hour-mark, with City’s new signings teeing up Haaland by cutting the ball back across the box, before the Norwegian rifled the ball past Sa.
—Dan Cancian, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025
Xander Bogaerts tried the same to lead off the second inning; Smith rifled a throw to second baseman Miguel Rojas to mark the Padres’ third out on the bases in a span of just five hitters.
—Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 17 Aug. 2025
James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2025
The pair combined again shortly after the hour-mark, with City’s new signings teeing up Haaland by cutting the ball back across the box, before the Norwegian rifled the ball past Sa.
—Dan Cancian, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025
Xander Bogaerts tried the same to lead off the second inning; Smith rifled a throw to second baseman Miguel Rojas to mark the Padres’ third out on the bases in a span of just five hitters.
—Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 17 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rifled
Verb
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Air resources were deployed from Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls and searched the area until around midnight.—
Desiree Anello,
PEOPLE,
19 Oct. 2025
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Mother ‘searched through more than 30 bodies’ Rasmiya Mohammed Khairi Qdeih from the town of Khuza’a in southern Gaza is among those searching for information about her family.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Photos were brought in to be scanned and used alongside more than 90 oral history interviews with 100 people.—
Charlie Vargas,
Oc Register,
17 Oct. 2025
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So Allen took the snap, scanned the field, found no open receivers and bailed right, his eyes still sifting through layers of zone.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
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White Flame was founded over a decade ago to explore for oil and gas in Greenland.—
Jordan Blum,
Fortune,
22 Oct. 2025
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Two decades after co-founding the Dodos with drummer Logan Kroeber, singer and guitarist Meric Long will release his first solo album under his own name.—
Matthew Strauss,
Pitchfork,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Her dark hair swept over the right side of her head with curls combed down over her shoulder.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
16 Oct. 2025
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The group combed through publicly available records to map out a network that captured the personal and professional relationships among the College of Cardinals (the senior clergy members who serve as both voters and candidates for the papacy).—
Jack Murtagh,
Scientific American,
11 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rifled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rifled. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
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