calliper

US caliper

/ (ˈkælɪpə) /

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noun

Also called: calliper compasses (often plural) an instrument for measuring internal or external dimensions, consisting of two steel legs hinged together

Also called: calliper splint med a splint consisting of two metal rods with straps attached, for supporting or exerting tension on the leg

verb

(tr) to measure the dimensions of (an object) with callipers

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Word Origin for calliper

C16: variant of calibre

Words nearby calliper

call in sick, calliope, calliopean, calliopsis, callipash, calliper, calliper rule, Callippic cycle, Callippus, callipygian, callistemon

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use calliper in a sentence

He juggles with the precious burden; he tests its perfections between his curved legs, calliper-wise.
Social Life in the Insect World|J. H. Fabre
Dot Calliper had come out on the mountain-side, with all the rest of them, after blackberries.
Harper's Young People, July 20, 1880|Various
A small beam-calliper, with outside edges, for examining the adjusting rings and the ring-gauges.
Ordnance Instructions for the United States Navy.|Bureau of Ordnance, USN
An enormous fellow he was, and fatter for his size than Dot Calliper was for hers.
Harper's Young People, July 20, 1880|Various

Yes, and Mrs. Calliper meant to dry them all and sell them, and buy some things for Dot and Molly and the baby.
Harper's Young People, July 20, 1880|Various