caliber

[kal-uh-ber]

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noun

the diameter of something of circular section, especially that of the inside of a tube: a pipe of three-inch caliber.
Ordnance. the diameter of the bore of a gun taken as a unit of measurement.
degree of capacity or competence; ability: a mathematician of high caliber.

degree of merit or excellence; quality: the high moral caliber of the era.

Also especially British, cal·i·bre.

Origin of caliber

1560–70; variant of calibre < Middle French ≪ Arabic qālib mold, last < Greek kālápous shoe last, equivalent to kāla- combining form of kâlon wood + poús foot (see -pod)

Related formscal·i·bered; especially British, cal·i·bred, adjective

Synonyms for caliber

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4. worth, distinction.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for caliber

talent, competence, quality, ability, stature, dignity, strength, force, constitution, power, nature, essence, merit, faculty, value, capability, appetency, virtue, distinction, scope

Examples from the Web for caliber

Contemporary Examples of caliber

The caliber at which Sam and the entire crew preformed dubbed them professionals not students.
Nitehawk Shorts Festival: ‘Brute,’ a Twisted Take on Playing in the Dark
Julia Grinberg
November 28, 2014
It was later reported that the weapon was a BB gun that appeared to be a .45-caliber pistol.
The 14 Teens Killed by Cops Since Michael Brown
Nina Strochlic
November 25, 2014
Still, the school has gotten more difficult to get into and the caliber of student attending has improved, as a result.
How The University of Wisconsin Badgers Are Bucking the Big Ten Ticket Flop
Brian Weidy
October 31, 2014
When the body of Johnson was exhumed, the medical examiner was acutely chagrined when six .22 caliber rounds were removed from it.
The Myth of the Central Park Five
Edward Conlon
October 19, 2014
He swaggered into the school cafeteria that day with a .22 caliber handgun and started shooting randomly.
How To Plan A Jailbreak
Seth Ferranti
September 13, 2014

Historical Examples of caliber

Had he dreamed of the hammer blow of that forty-five caliber bullet?
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930
Various
Hundreds and thousands of people have minds of this caliber.
Browning's England
Helen Archibald Clarke
What business could a detective of his caliber have to do with Bertrand Rockamore?
The Crevice
William John Burns and Isabel Ostrander
Sufficiently expert to care little for an enemy of his caliber.
Tom Burke Of "Ours", Volume I (of II)
Charles James Lever
Guns of all caliber belched their deadly missiles at the charging French.
Fighting in France
Ross Kay

Word Origin and History for caliber

1560s, "degree of merit or importance," a figurative use from Middle French calibre (late 15c.), apparently ultimately from Arabic qalib "a mold for casting." Arabic also used the word in the sense "mold for casting bullets," which is the oldest literal meaning in English. Meaning "inside diameter of a gun barrel" is attested from 1580s. Barnhart remarks that Spanish calibre, Italian calibro "appear too late to act as intermediate forms" between the Arabic word and the French.

caliber in Medicine

caliber

[kăl′ə-bər]

The diameter of the inside of a round cylinder, such as a tube.