air rifle
3
3.7
- noun
- /ɛr ˈraɪfəl/
:
carabina de aire
- He practiced his aim by shooting at targets with his new air rifle.
- 10-meter air rifle
- competitors shoot air rifle
- caliber air rifle
I remember once I I bought my I had a little Tutu air rifle that my grandfather had given me and I bought that to school to shoot the pigeons.
- I remember once I I bought my I had a little Tutu air rifle that my grandfather had given me and I bought that to school to shoot the pigeons.
Examples
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That Christmas when my Old Man gave me a 200-shot Red Ryder range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock.
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Now I just own a couple of air rifles to keep my eye in and my bow (a Supra Ultra S3).
Blog text (4) -
- This is an air rifle.
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It's only an air rifle.
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Is that an air rifle?
Blog text (1) -
- I'd like a bike, an air rifle, and a cricket bat, and a football.
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The Red Ryder 200-shot range model air rifle.
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Billy, even though terrified, whipped his Daisy air rifle up and fired.
Fiction book (1998) -
Sport shooters can use air rifles or practice at licensed ranges where the weapons and the ammunition do not leave the range.
Blog text (6) -
We're not; we just want to try rabbit meat, which is somewhat hard to buy, and we have sufficiently powerful air rifles to take out a rabbit humanely.
Blog text (2)
Synonyms
1
3.1
A device that shoots small pellets using compressed air instead of gunpowder
1
4.1
A gun that uses air or gas to fire small pellets
How Powerful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a gun that uses compressed air or gas to fire pellets' is directly derivable from 'air' (the propellant) modifying 'rifle' (a firearm). This modifier + noun composition is a straightforward, cross-linguistically common pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Air rifle creates a simple picture: a rifle pushed by air, not by 'gunpowder'. A strong burst of air or gas sends the pellet out, so today air rifle means a gun that uses air to shoot.