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
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rifle
Corey Pronman, The Athletic, 14 Jan. 2025
Welcome Back Rail Gun Fortnite is bringing back the rail gun sniper rifle after removing access to it following Chapter 2.
—John Mac Ghlionn, Newsweek, 14 Jan. 2025
Matt Pyzdrowski, The Athletic, 10 July 2024
The Cowboys would need some steep secondary help to stop the pair from rifling off big plays.
—Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for rifle 
Noun
His shot is a rifle, and his one-timer can be a legit weapon versus NHL goalies from range.
—Corey Pronman, The Athletic, 14 Jan. 2025
Welcome Back Rail Gun Fortnite is bringing back the rail gun sniper rifle after removing access to it following Chapter 2.
—John Mac Ghlionn, Newsweek, 14 Jan. 2025
Verb
Van Dijk rifling the ball into the upper left corner despite Kepa already standing in the left corner
If the game against England does go to a shootout, there is a high probability that Van Dijk will be one of the first players Ronald Koeman selects to take one of the Netherlands’ penalties.
—Matt Pyzdrowski, The Athletic, 10 July 2024
The Cowboys would need some steep secondary help to stop the pair from rifling off big plays.
—Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for rifle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rifle
Noun
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Even by big-city standards, the grisly shotgun murders of former beauty queen Kitty, 47, and wealthy music executive Jose, 45, as the couple watched TV in their Beverly Hills home in August of 1989 was a shocking crime.—
Christine Pelisek,
People.com,
29 Jan. 2025
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The body had two shotgun wounds and was later identified by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation as LaChancey Williams, according to the release.—
Natalie Demaree,
Miami Herald,
27 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Authorities are searching for a man accused of stabbing an off-duty Atlanta police officer during a confrontation after a hit-and-run over the weekend.—
Landon Mion,
Fox News,
20 Jan. 2025
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In October, 1985, Lammy watched the TV coverage of a riot that broke out on the Broadwater Farm Estate, a social-housing project two streets away from his house, when a Black woman died of heart failure after her apartment was searched by the police.—
Sam Knight,
The New Yorker,
20 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The Sassenach’s survival is an important development, given that Mrs. Fraser ended the previous episode with a musket ball in her liver and an alarming amount of her blood on the ground.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
6 Jan. 2025
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In recent decades, however, the military has also been polluting the home front, most notably with a toxic chemical never heard of in the era of muskets and drums: PFAS.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
TIME,
25 Sep. 2024
Verb
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Type: Spray How to Apply: Lightly mist onto damp or towel-dried hair, then comb through for even distribution.—
Kiana Murden,
Vogue,
15 Jan. 2025
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However, the death toll is expected to rise when cadaver dogs comb through the affected areas; at least 13 additional people have been reported missing, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said Sunday.—
Daniel Kreps,
Rolling Stone,
12 Jan. 2025
Verb
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When the rye declines, rake it out and loosen the soil to sow the permanent bahiagrass seed.—
Tom MacCubbin,
Orlando Sentinel,
11 Jan. 2025
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After the area mostly dries, rake away all dead material and loosen the soil.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
8 Jan. 2025
Noun
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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
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Modern gun technologies are far, far more deadly than the one-shot flintlocks of the 18th century—shouldn’t that matter?—
Robert J. Spitzer,
Time,
6 June 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
Noun
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Colman is Edith Swan, a middle-aged church lady who still lives with her blunderbuss of a father (Timothy Spall) and mild-mannered mother (Gemma Jones) in a working-class neighborhood of Littlehampton.—
Ty Burr,
Washington Post,
4 Apr. 2024
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The State Department, in its blunderbuss way, wanted to open up a kind of détente with the citizens of Communist Eastern Europe.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
27 Mar. 2023
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Cite this Entry
“Rifle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rifle. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.
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