Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

carbine

American  
[kahr-been, -bahyn] / ˈkɑr bin, -baɪn /

noun

  1. a light, gas-operated semiautomatic rifle.

  2. (formerly) a short rifle used in the cavalry.

carbine British  
/ ˈkɑːbaɪn /

noun

  1. a light automatic or semiautomatic rifle of limited range

  2. Also called: carabin.   carabine.  a light short-barrelled shoulder rifle formerly used by cavalry

"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

Etymology

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 scarabaeus scarab ), though semantic change is unclear

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.