carbine
noun
car·bine
| \ ˈkär-ˌbēn
, -ˌbīn\
, -ˌbīn\
Definition of carbine
1
: a short-barreled lightweight firearm originally used by cavalry
2
: a light short-barreled repeating rifle that is used as a supplementary military arm or for hunting in dense brush
Examples of carbine in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The Colt Commando, a shorter version of the M16 used in Vietnam was originally considered a submachine gun but by modern classification standards would be considered a carbine. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The U.S. Army Selects New Submachine Gun," 2 Apr. 2019 The Army traditionally favors full-sized rifles or pistols, and now carbines. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The U.S. Army Selects New Submachine Gun," 2 Apr. 2019 At times, this place resembles one of those movies in which Schwarzenegger emerges out of walls of smoke, carrying a carbine and a scowl. — Chris Erskine, latimes.com, "A speedway, a spectacle, a sensational Saturday night," 20 June 2019 At times, this place resembles one of those movies in which Schwarzenegger emerges out of walls of smoke, carrying a carbine and a scowl. — Chris Erskine, San Diego Union-Tribune, "A speedway, a spectacle, a sensational Saturday night," 20 June 2019 Their similarity to the M4 carbine in function could give them a leg up on the competition. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The U.S. Army Is Testing 10 New Submachine Guns," 11 June 2018 The same issues that plague tank guns also affect individual soldier's weapons, including infantry carbines and squad automatic weapons. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The Army’s Next Infantry Guns Will Have Computerized Fire Control for Unreal Accuracy," 14 Feb. 2019 That’s $90,000 more than a fully tricked out M4A1 carbine. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The Army’s XM-25 'Punisher' Supergun Is Dead," 13 Aug. 2018 The Next Generation Squad Weapon will replace the M4A1 carbine, while the Next Generation Squad Automatic Rifle will replace the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The U.S. Army Chose a New Bullet for Its New Rifles," 9 Oct. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'carbine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for carbine
carbine
noun
English Language Learners Definition of carbine
: a short, light rifle
See the full definition for carbine in the English Language Learners Dictionary
carbine
noun
car·bine
| \ ˈkär-ˌbēn
, -ˌbīn\
, -ˌbīn\
Kids Definition of carbine
: a short light rifle
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