CARBINE, a word which came into use towards the end of the i6th century to denote a form of small fire-arm, shorter than the musket and chiefly used by mounted men (Fr. carabine, Ger. Karabiner) . It has retained this significance, through all subse quent modifications of small-arm design, to the present day, and is now as a rule a shortened and otherwise slightly modified form of the ordinary rifle (see SMALL ARMS). During and since the World War, however, it has been largely replaced by the ordinary rifle even for cavalry.