Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Calibre
{
, Cal′i-ber
,Cal′ibre
}Noun.
1.
(Gunnery)
The diameter of the bore, as a cannon or other firearm, or of any tube; or the weight or size of the projectile which a firearm will carry;
as, an 8 inch gun, a 12-pounder, a 44
. caliber
The
caliber
of empty tubes. Reid.
A battery composed of three guns of small
caliber
. Prescott.
☞ The caliber of firearms is expressed in various ways. Cannon are often designated by the weight of a solid spherical shot that will fit the bore; as, a 12-pounder; pieces of ordnance that project shell or hollow shot are designated by the diameter of their bore; as, a 12 inch mortar or a 14 inch shell gun; small arms are designated by hundredths of an inch expressed decimally; as, a rifle of .44 inch caliber.
2.
The diameter of round or cylindrical body, as of a bullet or column.
3.
Fig.: Capacity or compass of mind.
Burke.
Caliber compasses
. See
– Calipers
. Caliber rule
, a gunner’s calipers, an instrument having two scales arranged to determine a ball's weight from its diameter, and conversely.
– A ship's caliber
, the weight of her armament.
Definition 2024
calibre
calibre
See also: calibré
English
Alternative forms
- caliber (US)
Noun
calibre (countable and uncountable, plural calibres) (British, Australia, Canada, New Zealand)
- Diameter of the bore of a firearm, typically measured between opposite lands.
- The diameter of round or cylindrical body, as of a bullet, a projectile, or a column.
- A nominal name for a cartridge type, which may not exactly indicate its true size and may include other measurements such as cartridge length or black powder capacity. Eg 7.62×39 or 38.40.
- Unit of measure used to express the length of the bore of a weapon. The number of calibres is determined by dividing the length of the bore of the weapon, from the breech face of the tube to the muzzle, by the diameter of its bore. A gun tube the bore of which is 40 feet (480 inches) long and 12 inches in diameter is said to be 40 calibers long.
- (figuratively) Relative size, importance, magnitude.
- 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “chapter XIII”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 1227855:
- A snort of about the calibre of an explosion in an ammunition dump escaped my late father's sister.
-
- (figuratively) Capacity or compass of mind.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Burke to this entry?)
- (dated) Degree of importance or station in society.
Related terms
Translations
Diameter of the bore of a firearm
Diameter of round or cylindrical body, as of a bullet, projectile or column
Unit of measure of the length of the bore of a weapon
Figuratively: Capacity or compass of mind
Obsolete: Degree of importance or station in society
External links
- calibre in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- calibre in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
Anagrams
References
The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Clarendon Press, 1989.
French
Verb
calibre
- first-person singular present indicative of calibrer
- third-person singular present indicative of calibrer
- first-person singular present subjunctive of calibrer
- first-person singular present subjunctive of calibrer
- second-person singular imperative of calibrer
Anagrams
Spanish
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kaˈlibɾe̞/
Noun
calibre m (plural calibres)
Verb
calibre
- Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of calibrar.
- First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of calibrar.
- Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of calibrar.
- Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of calibrar.