Main Difference
The main difference between Gun and Rifle is that the Gun is a weapon designed to discharge projectiles or other material and Rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder
Gun
A gun is a tubular ranged weapon typically designed to pneumatically discharge projectiles that are solid (most guns) but can also be liquid (as in water guns/cannons and projected water disruptors) or even charged particles (as in a plasma gun) and may be free-flying (as with bullets and artillery shells) or tethered (as with Taser guns, spearguns and harpoon guns).
The means of projectile propulsion vary according to designs, but are traditionally effected by a high gas pressure contained within a shooting tube (gun barrel), produced either through the rapid combustion of propellants (as with firearms), or by mechanical compression (as with air guns). The high-pressure gas is introduced behind the projectile, accelerating it down the length of the tube, imparting sufficient launch velocity to sustain its further travel towards the target once the propelling gas ceases acting upon it at the end of the tube. Alternatively, acceleration via electromagnetic field generation may be employed, in which case the shooting tube may be substituted by guide rails (as in railguns) or wrapped with magnetic coils (as in coilguns).
The first devices identified as guns appeared in China around CE 1000. By the 12th century the technology was spreading through the rest of Asia, and into Europe by the 13th century.
Rifle
A rifle is a portable, long-barrelled firearm designed for long-range precision shooting, to be held with both hands and braced against the shoulder for stability during firing, and with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves (“rifling”) cut into the bore walls. The term was originally rifled gun, with the word “rifle” referring to the machining process of creating grooving with cutting tools, and is now used for any long handheld device designed for aimed discharge activated by a trigger, such as air rifles and the personnel halting and stimulation response rifle. Rifles are used in warfare, law enforcement, hunting and shooting sports.
Like all typical firearms, a rifle’s projectile (bullet) is propelled by the contained deflagration of a combustible propellant compound (originally black powder, later cordite, and now nitrocellulose), although other means such as compressed air are used in air rifles, which are popular for vermin control, hunting small game, formal target shooting and casual shooting (“plinking”). The raised areas of the rifling are called “lands,” which make contact with the projectile, imparting a spin around the longitudinal axis of the barrel. When the projectile leaves the barrel, this spin lends gyroscopic stability to the projectile and prevents tumbling, in the same way that a properly spirally thrown American football or rugby ball behaves. This allows the use of aerodynamically-efficient bullets (as opposed to the spherical balls used in muskets) and thus improves range and accuracy.
Gun (noun)
A device for projecting a hard object very forcefully; a firearm or cannon.
“Guns were considered improvements of crossbows and catapults.”
“Looking for wild meat to fill his family’s freezer for the winter, the young man quietly raised up his gun at the approaching deer.”
Gun (noun)
A very portable, short firearm, for hand use, which fires bullets or projectiles, such as a handgun, revolver, pistol{{,}} or Derringer.
Gun (noun)
A less portable, long firearm, bullet or projectile firing; a rifle, either manual, automatic or semi-automatic; a flintlock, musket or shotgun.
Gun (noun)
A cannon with relatively long barrel, operating with relatively low angle of fire, and having a high muzzle velocity.JP 1-02. Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, 8 November 2010 (As Amended Through 15 March 2012), p.142. ([//www.dtic.mil/doctrine/dod_dictionary/ Searchable online version])
Gun (noun)
A cannon with a 6-inch/155mm minimum nominal bore diameter and tube length 30 calibers or more. See also: howitzer; mortar.
Gun (noun)
A device operated by a trigger and acting in a manner similar to a firearm.
“There are some guns that are not designed for killing.”
Gun (noun)
A firearm or cannon used for saluting or signalling.Wp
Gun (noun)
Any implement designed to fire a projectile from a tube.
“air-pressure pellet gun;”
“air rifle;”
“BB gun;”
“zipgun;”
“nail gun;”
“a potato gun”
Gun (noun)
A device or tool that projects a substance.
“a squirt gun;”
“a spray gun;”
“a grease gun”
Gun (noun)
A long surfboard designed for surfing big waves (not the same as a longboard, a gun has a pointed nose and is generally a little narrower).
Gun (noun)
A pattern that “fires” out other patterns.
Gun (noun)
A person who carries or uses a rifle, shotgun or handgun.
Gun (noun)
The biceps.
Gun (noun)
Violent blasts of wind.
Gun (verb)
To shoot someone or something, usually with a firearm.
“He gunned down the hitmen.”
“The CEO gunned down that idea before we could present it to the board.”
Gun (verb)
To speed something up.
“He gunned the engine.”
Gun (verb)
To offer vigorous support to a person or cause.
“He’s gunning for you.”
Gun (verb)
To seek to attack someone; to take aim at someone.
“He’s been gunning for you ever since you embarrassed him at the party.”
Gun (verb)
To practice fowling or hunting small game; chiefly in participial form: to go gunning.
Gun (verb)
nonstandard spelling of going to
“I’m gun go get da gun from da closet.”
Rifle (noun)
A long firearm firing a single projectile, usually with a rifled barrel to improve accuracy.
Rifle (noun)
A strip of wood covered with emery or a similar material, used for sharpening scythes.
Rifle (verb)
To search with intent to steal; to ransack, pillage or plunder.
Rifle (verb)
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.”
Rifle (verb)
To add a spiral to the interior of a gun bore to make a fired bullet spin in flight to improve range and accuracy.
Rifle (verb)
To strike something with great power.
Rifle (verb)
To commit robbery.
Rifle (verb)
To strip of goods; to rob; to pillage.
Rifle (verb)
To seize and bear away by force; to snatch away; to carry off.
Rifle (verb)
To raffle.
Rifle (noun)
a gun, especially one fired from shoulder level, having a long spirally grooved barrel intended to make a bullet spin and thereby have greater accuracy over a long distance
“a hunting rifle”
Rifle (noun)
troops armed with rifles
“the Burma Rifles”
Rifle (verb)
make spiral grooves in (a gun or its barrel or bore) to make a bullet spin and thereby have greater accuracy over a long distance
“a line of replacement rifled barrels”
Rifle (verb)
hit or kick (a ball) hard and straight
“Ferguson rifled home his fourth goal of the season”
Rifle (verb)
search through something in a hurried way in order to find or steal something
“she rifled through the cassette tapes”
“she rifled the house for money”
Rifle (verb)
steal
“he rifled the dead man’s possessions”