Meanings
plural assault rifles
- A military select-fire rifle or carbine that fires an intermediate-power cartridge, from a detachable magazine.
A man dressed as a lab tech, his blue scrubs startlingly pale against the vivid red and black chaos, moved into sight from behind the SUV. He carried an assault rifle.
2014, Jeff Jacobson, Growth, page 23 - colloquialAny firearm meeting the definition of an assault weapon, and in the form of a rifle.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounany of the automatic rifles or semiautomatic rifles with large magazines designed for military use
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- GermanSturmgewehr
- Englishassault rifle
Calque of German Sturmgewehr (literally “storm rifle”). The Maschinenpistole 44 was called the Sturmgewehr by Adolf Hitler, whence it was renamed to represent the separate class of firearm it represented.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic بُنْدُقِيَّة هُجُومِيَّة
- بُنْدُقِيَّة هُجُومِيَّة (bunduqiyya hujūmiyya)a rifle
Bulgarian автома́т
- автома́т (avtomát)a rifle
Chinese Mandarin 突擊步槍 /突击步枪, 攻擊步槍 /攻击步枪
- 突擊步槍 /突击步枪 (tūjī bùqiāng)a rifle
- 攻擊步槍 /攻击步枪a rifle
Czech útočná puška
- útočná puškaa rifle
Danish stormgevær
- stormgeværa rifle
Dutch aanvalsgeweer
- aanvalsgeweera rifle
Esperanto sturmofusilo
- sturmofusiloa rifle
Finnish rynnäkkökivääri
- rynnäkkökivääria rifle
French fusil d'assaut
- fusil d'assauta rifle
German Sturmgewehr
- Sturmgewehra rifle
Hebrew רובה סער
- רובה סערa rifle
Hungarian gépkarabély
- gépkarabélya rifle
Icelandic hríðskotariffill, árásarriffill
- hríðskotariffilla rifle
- árásarriffilla rifle
Indonesian senapan serbu
- senapan serbua rifle
Italian fucile d'assalto
- fucile d'assaltoa rifle
Japanese 突撃銃, アサルトライフル
- 突撃銃 (totsugekijū)a rifle
- アサルトライフル (asarutoraifuru)a rifle
Korean 돌격소총
- 돌격소총 (dolgyeoksochong)a rifle
Lithuanian automatas, šturmo šautuvais
- automatasa rifle
- šturmo šautuvaisa rifle
Norwegian automatgevær
- automatgeværa rifle
Polish karabin automatyczny
- karabin automatycznya rifle
Portuguese fuzil de assalto
- fuzil de assaltoa rifle
Russian штурмова́я винто́вка, автома́т
- штурмова́я винто́вка (šturmovája vintóvka)a rifle
- автома́т (avtomát)a rifle
Slovak automat
- automata rifle
Spanish fusil de asalto, rifle de asalto
- fusil de asaltoa rifle
- rifle de asaltoa rifle
- fusaa rifle
Swedish automatkarbin, stormgevär
- automatkarbina rifle
- stormgevära rifle
Turkish piyade Tüfeği
- piyade Tüfeğia rifle
Ukrainian штурмова́ гвинті́вка, автома́т
- штурмова́ гвинті́вка (šturmová hvyntívka)a rifle
- автома́т (avtomát)a rifle
Cite this entry
assault rifle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/assault%20rifle
“assault rifle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/assault%20rifle. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “assault rifle,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/assault%20rifle.
Source: assault rifle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.