Usage: Rifle vs. Riffle

The difference isn’t a firearm vs. looking through stuff. You can actually both rifle and riffle through belongings. The difference is in your method.

To riffle is to flip through something like a book or shuffle a deck of cards. It’s basically a blend of ripple and shuffle.

As a noun, a rifle is a gun with a long barrel with grooves called rifling. As a verb, to rifle is to ransack. You can rifle through a drawer or suitcase, for example.

Tip to Remember
A burglar may bring a rifle to rifle through your stuff.
You may riffle by gently shuffling.