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Rifle vs Cannon - What's the difference?

rifle | cannon |

As nouns the difference between rifle and cannon

is that rifle is a long firearm firing a single projectile, usually with a rifled barrel to improve accuracy while cannon is a complete assembly, consisting of an artillery tube and a breech mechanism, firing mechanism or base cap, which is a component of a gun, howitzer or mortar. It may include muzzle appendages.

As verbs the difference between rifle and cannon

is that rifle is to search with intent to steal; to ransack, pillage or plunder while cannon is to bombard with cannons.

As a proper noun Cannon is

{{surname}.

rifle

English

(wikipedia rifle)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A long firearm firing a single projectile, usually with a rifled barrel to improve accuracy.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1907, author=
  • , title=The Dust of Conflict , chapter=7 citation , passage=Still, a dozen men with rifles , and cartridges to match, stayed behind when they filed through a white aldea lying silent amid the cane, and the Sin Verguenza swung into slightly quicker stride.}}
  • A strip of wood covered with emery or a similar material, used for sharpening scythes.
  • Derived terms

    * automatic rifle * rifled slug * rifling

    Verb

    (rifl)
  • to search with intent to steal; to ransack, pillage or plunder.
  • To scan many items (especially papers) in a set, quickly. (See also riffle[http://verbmall.blogspot.com/2008/05/riffle-or-rifle.html])
  • She made a mess when she rifled through the stack of papers, looking for the title document.
  • To add a spiral to the interior of a gun bore to make a fired bullet spin in flight to improve range and accuracy.
  • To strike something with great power.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2010 , date=December 28 , author=Marc Vesty , title=Stoke 0 - 2 Fulham , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Davies's cross was headed away from danger by Robert Huth, only for Baird to take the ball in his stride and rifle his right-footed effort towards the corner from the edge of the box.}}
  • To commit robbery.
  • (Bishop Hall)
  • To strip of goods; to rob; to pillage.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Stand, sir, and throw us that you have about ye: / If not, we'll make you sit and rifle you.
  • To seize and bear away by force; to snatch away; to carry off.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • Time shall rifle every youthful grace.
  • To raffle.
  • Anagrams

    * ----

    cannon

    English

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A complete assembly, consisting of an artillery tube and a breech mechanism, firing mechanism or base cap, which is a component of a gun, howitzer or mortar. It may include muzzle appendages.(JP 1-02 Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms).
  • A bone of a horse's leg, between the fetlock joint and the knee or hock.
  • (historical) A large muzzle-loading artillery piece.
  • (sports, billiards, snooker, pool) A carom.
  • In English billiards, a cannon is when one's cue ball strikes the other player's cue ball and the red ball on the same shot; and it is worth two points.
  • (baseball, figuratively, informal) The arm of a player that can throw well.
  • He's got a cannon out in right.
  • (engineering) A hollow cylindrical piece carried by a revolving shaft, on which it may, however, revolve independently.
  • (printing) (a large size of type)
  • Usage notes

    The unchanged plural is preferred in Great Britain and Ireland, while North Americans and Australians tend to use the regular plural cannons . On aircraft, autocannons are sometimes called "cannons" for short.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To bombard with cannons
  • (sports, billiards, snooker, pool) To play the carom billiard shot. To strike two balls with the cue ball
  • The white cannoned off the red onto the pink.
  • To fire something, especially spherical, rapidly.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011
  • , date=September 2 , author= , title=Wales 2-1 Montenegro , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Montenegro had hardly threatened in the second period but served notice they were still potent as Nikola Vukcevic took a smart pass from Jovetic and cannoned a shot off Hennessey's shins.}}