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Glite Dictionary
🔫 A gun firing 📏 Shooting distance
rifle shot

rifle shot

1 3.7
A single firing of a rifle that makes a loud sound
  • noun
  • /ˈraɪfəl ʃɑt/
translation icon : disparo de rifle
  • A rifle shot goes off next to Alain.
  • a single rifle shot
  • heard a rifle shot
  • crack of a rifle shot

Examples

  • It made a noise like a rifle shot, and the dogs turned and ran.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • A rifle shot rang out, startling everyone in the quiet forest.

  • I, uh, I heard a rifle shot.

    Killing Lincoln (2013)

  • Suddenly, there was a rifle shot.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • A rifle shot sounds from an upper window and a rabbit falls wounded.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • A single rifle shot, a ringing sound, and he stumbled to his knees and fell on his face.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • A rifle shot blasts the Riff from his horse.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Alain's rifle shot is a direct hit to the heart, ending Luther's suffering.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Most of the island was secured; however, at night there was some anti-aircraft firing and occasional rifle shots.

    Blog text (11)

  • A rifle shot, and the pony does a violent somersault, and Davey goes over in a spray of dirt fifty yards away.

    Fiction book (1993)

Synonyms

bullet
vsrifle shot
∞ 2.2

A small metal object fired from a gun

is either that projectile or the firing event when specific to a shoulder-fired weapon
round
vsrifle shot
387 7.2

A single bullet or shell used in a gun

covers one firing or its projectile but ties it to a single shoulder-fired weapon
gunshot
vsrifle shot
228 2.3

An event when someone shoots a gun and a bullet leaves the gun

refers specifically to one discharge or its projectile from a single shoulder-fired weapon
discharge
vsrifle shot
10 5.5

A single shot made when a gun or weapon fires

names a single event or the projectile from one specific shoulder-fired weapon

Surface Forms

rifle shot singular
rifle shots plural

Morphology

rifle + shot

The phrase is directly compositional: 'rifle' (a firearm) + 'shot' (the act or projectile) yields the idea of a shot fired from a rifle and, by extension, the distance that shot can travel. There is no strong idiomatic or metaphorical shift here, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

Rifle shot comes from the simple image of a rifle firing: the rifle makes a sharp bang and one shot (one bullet) flies away. So, the phrase means 'a single firing or the bullet fired'.