WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
Spring′field ri′fle,
- Militarya single-shot, breechloading.45-caliber rifle used by the U.S. Army from 1867 to 1893.
- MilitaryAlso called Springfield 1903. a bolt-operated, magazine-fed,.30-caliber rifle adopted by the U.S. Army in 1903 and used during World War I.
- Militarya single-shot, muzzleloading rifle of.58-inch caliber, used by the Union Army during the Civil War.
- after Springfield, Mass., site of a federal armory that made the rifles