RIFLE

n. & v. --n. 1 a gun with a long rifled barrel, esp. one fired from shoulder-level. 2 (in pl.) riflemen. --v.tr. make spiral grooves in (a gun or its barrel or bore) to make a bullet spin. ørifle bird any dark green Australian bird of paradise of the genus Ptiloris. rifle-range a place for rifle-practice. rifle-shot 1 the distance coverable by a shot from a rifle. 2 a shot fired with a rifle. [OF rifler graze, scratch f. Gmc]