carbine

[ kahr-been, -bahyn ]

See synonyms for carbine on Thesaurus.com

noun

a light, gas-operated semiautomatic rifle.
(formerly) a short rifle used in the cavalry.

Origin of carbine

1595–1605; earlier carabine<Middle French: small harquebus, weapon borne by a carabin a lightly armed cavalryman, compared with (e)scarabin gravedigger for plague victims (<Provençal, akin to French escarbot cockchafer, dung beetle ≪ Latin scarabaeusscarab), though semantic change is unclear

Words Nearby carbine

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use carbine in a sentence

Will he get his carbine free before I reach him, or can I kill him first?
The Real Memorial Day: Oliver Wendell Holmes's Salute To A Momentous American Anniversary | Malcolm Jones | May 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
As you can see on your screens, this young soldier is trying to strangle me with the barrel of his carbine.
This 1979 Novel Predicted Putin’s Invasion Of Crimea | Michael Weiss | May 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Washington pointed to Brown, who was kneeling beside him reloading his carbine, and said, “This is Osawatomie.”
When Robert E. Lee Met John Brown and Saved the Union | Michael Korda | May 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
"I spent a career carrying typically either a M16, and later a M4 carbine," he said.
The Gun Debate Heats Up | Michael Tomasky | January 8, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Also, by carrying an M-4 carbine, everybody knew I was carrying something that could stitch even U.S. body armor.
Don’t Arm America: A Soldier’s Reply to Connecticut Shooting | Tony Schwalm | December 18, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST

As he stood, gloomily lost in the horror of the moment, another carbine was fired, accompanied by shouts from the soldiers.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane Porter
But the jar threw my six-shooter where I couldn't reach it, and the carbine was jammed in the stirrup-leather on the wrong side.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
Trevithick invented and made a carbine with a short barrel of large bore, having a hollow frame-work stock.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis Trevithick
"Back your horse clear of the trail," he said, and there was a rattle as he flung his carbine across the saddle.
Winston of the Prairie | Harold Bindloss
William Jencks had invented a carbine, and Uncle Sam wanted several thousand guns made in a hurry under the patent.
The Wonder Book of Knowledge | Various

British Dictionary definitions for carbine

carbine

/ (ˈkɑːbaɪn) /

noun

a light automatic or semiautomatic rifle of limited range
Also called: carabin, carabine a light short-barrelled shoulder rifle formerly used by cavalry

Origin of carbine

C17: from French carabine, from Old French carabin carabineer, perhaps variant of escarrabin one who prepares corpses for burial, from scarabée, from Latin scarabaeus scarab

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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