A carbine is a firearm, similar to but shorter than an ordinary rifle or musket in barrel and stock. The carbine was originally developed to be used by cavalry soldiers, for whom a full-length rifle was too heavy and cumbersome to be fired from horseback. Carbines have also been issued to non-combat personnel, such as cooks, technicians etc., for whom a lighter weapon is sufficient and desirable. Many military rifles have been manufactured in both full-length and carbine versions. After WWII the assault rifle, which is basically a cross-breed of the carbine and a submachine gun, has become the standard infantry weapon, and carbine as a category of military firearms has virtually vanished.

The carbine is distinguished from the submachine gun by its type of ammunition. Carbines use rifle rounds, while handguns and submachine guns do not.

Today the term 'carbine' is inaccurately used for a variety of firearms, basically anything between a pistol and a rifle. Pistols with a shoulder stock, submachine guns or assault rifles with only single fire capability and small rifles designed to fire pistol cartridges can be seen to erroneously bear the title. The Colt M4 is the main carbine of the U.S. Army.

Famous carbine rifles:

• Mannlicher-Carcano, used in the John F. Kennedy assassination
• M1 Carbine (WWII weapon)
• M1A1 Carbine (with folding stock)
• M2 Carbine.
• M3 Carbine.
• M4 Carbine (variant of M-16 family)
• C8 Carbine (Canadian variant of M4 carbine)