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rifle

rifle

noun RREE-fleh Rare

Origin: From English rifle, from 'to rifle' (to cut spiral grooves in a barrel).

Usage Note

Rifle is a direct borrowing from English, used throughout the Spanish-speaking world for a long-barreled firearm with a rifled barrel. It is masculine: un rifle de caza. The word entered Spanish through 19th-century military and hunting contexts. The related term carabina refers to a shorter carbine.

Examples

"El cazador llevaba un rifle al hombro."

Natural Translation

The hunter carried a rifle on his shoulder.

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