calibrate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to determine, check, or rectify the graduation of (any instrument giving quantitative measurements).
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to divide or mark with gradations, graduations, or other indexes of degree, quantity, etc., as on a thermometer, measuring cup, or the like.
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to determine the correct range for (an artillery gun, mortar, etc.) by observing where the fired projectile hits.
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to plan or devise (something) carefully so as to have a precise use, application, appeal, etc..
a sales strategy calibrated to rich investors.
verb
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to measure the calibre of (a gun, mortar, etc)
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to mark (the scale of a measuring instrument) so that readings can be made in appropriate units
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to determine the accuracy of (a measuring instrument, etc)
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to determine or check the range and accuracy of (a piece of artillery)
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To check, adjust, or standardize a measuring instrument, usually by comparing it with an accepted model.
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To measure the diameter of the inside of a tube.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of calibrate
Explanation
The word calibrate means making precise measurement. For example, you might want to calibrate your bathroom scale now and then to be sure it’s adjusted for exact weight. Or calibrate it to read five pounds light. We won't tell. To find the origin of calibrate, we must look at its root, caliber, which appeared in the late 15th-century Middle French as calibre, meaning "a degree of importance." Linguists trace that word to an Arabic beginning, the word qalib, which referred to a mold for making bullets. That meaning seems to have carried over to our word, the verb calibrate, which first meant to measure the range of a projectile such as a bullet or shell.
Vocabulary lists containing calibrate
The Fault in Our Stars
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"The Leap," Vocabulary from the short story
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The Invention of Hugo Cabret
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Kirkland-based Calibrate Property Management, Bellevue-based HNN Associates and Seattle-based Pillar Properties are among the property management companies named in the case, along with Yardi.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 8, 2023
Dana Crom, an attorney, said she had gone through many coaches with Calibrate.
From Salon • Nov. 17, 2022
Calibrate costs patients nearly $1,600 a year, not counting the price of drugs, which can hit nearly $1,500 monthly without insurance, according to drug price savings site GoodRx.
From Salon • Nov. 17, 2022
Calibrate your expectations accordingly should you venture to Rockville.
From Washington Post • Mar. 8, 2021
To Calibrate Tubes for Measuring Gases.—Prepare a small glass tube sealed at one end and ground at the other to a plate of glass.
From The Methods of Glass Blowing and of Working Silica in the Oxy-Gas Flame For the use of chemical and physical students by Shenstone, W. A.
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.
