as in searching
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
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Recent Examples of rifling
Guentzel, meanwhile, had a strong game, just missing a goal after rifling one off the post in the second period before tallying the team’s first goal late in the same period, a huge one.
—
Arpon Basu, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
Adding to the chaos of the moment, Courtney encountered a bear rifling through the garbage outside.
—Erin Clack, PEOPLE, 16 Apr. 2026
Heise worked her way into the left faceoff circle before rifling a shot just under the crossbar to give the Frost the win and keep Vancouver winless on the road.
—CBS News, 28 Dec. 2025
Best All-Time NFL Wide Receivers Starting slow in the NFL matters more than ending the season with a win streak, unless that win streak is rifling off 8-10 wins.
—James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Sep. 2025
Arpon Basu, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
Adding to the chaos of the moment, Courtney encountered a bear rifling through the garbage outside.
—Erin Clack, PEOPLE, 16 Apr. 2026
Heise worked her way into the left faceoff circle before rifling a shot just under the crossbar to give the Frost the win and keep Vancouver winless on the road.
—CBS News, 28 Dec. 2025
Best All-Time NFL Wide Receivers Starting slow in the NFL matters more than ending the season with a win streak, unless that win streak is rifling off 8-10 wins.
—James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rifling
Verb
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By my count, that would leave the Rangers searching for three forwards and two defensemen, plus a new backup goalie.—
Vincent Z. Mercogliano,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
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That's because people like the Warneskys, who are seeking to rebuild in disaster-prone regions, are searching for greater peace of mind.—
Vanessa Romo,
NPR,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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From the vantage point of L2, the X-ray spacecraft was able to gather the data that informed this soft X-ray map by scanning the sky four times between 2019 and 2021.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
24 Apr. 2026
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In some cases, paid ICE officers were scanning IDs while unpaid TSA workers were working the security scanning machines at Hartsfield-Jackson.—
Irene Wright,
USA Today,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The day after a man opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, authorities are combing through a message sent by the shooting suspect, seeking to understand what allegedly led him from his life as a respected California teacher to a would-be assassin.—
Alayna Treene,
CNN Money,
26 Apr. 2026
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Investigators are now combing through a hotel room at the Washington Hilton.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
26 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rifling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rifling. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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