Meanings
plural carbines · alternative carabin · alternative carabine
- A rifle with a short barrel.
The lock-up was upstairs, a cage surrounded by six-inch wooden bars, guarded by a constable armed with a carbine.
1934, George Orwell, chapter 6, in Burmese Days3 more examples
"Caught at last, and by those rascally Roundheads, whom you call patriots and saints, in a few minutes more I shall be shot—that is, if their clumsy carbines take good aim—to be sure they can fire near enough their mark not to miss...
1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter IX, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 69Inside the wall they found "a small cannon aimed at the entrance of the gate, and all along the street soldiers were stationed and a few on horseback were riding up and down. One of these had his carbine strapped on his back, and swung under his arm was a three-foot beheading sword wrapped in red cloth. That section had been terrorized by robbers, and they were prepared."
December 2010, John Pollock, A Foreign Devil in China, World Wide Publications, →ISBN, page 45The man who fired the carbine, who fired the gun with the scope, who brought the lead horse down, was discovered sitting cross-legged in a cargo van.
2017, Sam Shepard, chapter 27, in Spy of the First Person, →ISBN, page 60
Origin
- Frenchcarabine
- Englishcarbine
Ca. 1600, from French carabine. Doublet of carabine.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan carrabina, carabina
- carrabinaweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
- carabinaweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Chinese Mandarin 卡賓槍 /卡宾枪
- 卡賓槍 /卡宾枪 (kǎbīnqiāng)weapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Czech karabina
- karabinaweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Dutch karabijn
- karabijnweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Finnish karbiini
- karbiiniweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
French carabine
- carabineweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
German Karabiner
- Karabinerweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Greek καραμπίνα
- καραμπίνα (karampína)weapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Hungarian karabély
- karabélyweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Indonesian karabin, terkul
- karabinweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
- terkulweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Italian carabina
- carabinaweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Japanese カービン, 騎兵銃
- カービン (kābin)weapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
- 騎兵銃 (kiheijū)weapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
- 騎銃 (kijū)weapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Korean 카빈총, 카빈
- 카빈총 (kabinchong)weapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
- 카빈 (kabin)weapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Latin carabina
- carabinaweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Māori pū poto
- pū potoweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Polish karabinek
- karabinekweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Portuguese carabina
- carabinaweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Romanian carabină
- carabinăweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Russian караби́н
- караби́н (karabín)weapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Spanish carabina
- carabinaweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Swedish karbin
- karbinweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Tagalog karbin, karabina
- karbinweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
- karabinaweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Turkish karabina
- karabinaweapon similar to a rifle but much shorter in length
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with carbine
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
carbine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carbine
“carbine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carbine. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “carbine,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/carbine.
Source: carbine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.