small-bore

[smawl-bawr, -bohr]

adjective

of, noting, or relating to a .22-caliber firearm.
insular or parochial in scope, attitude, etc.: small-bore officials.

Origin of small-bore

First recorded in 1895–1900

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

Examples from the Web for small-bore

Contemporary Examples of small-bore

Their fallback is a series of small-bore bills like more visas for high-tech workers.
Bob Shrum’s Winners & Losers of 2012
Robert Shrum
December 14, 2012
And it initiated a neverending flurry of small-bore initiatives that cumulated in quite a lot of progress in the 1990s.
Overcoming the Fear Factor
Ted Widmer
March 21, 2010

Historical Examples of small-bore

Every man carried a small-bore rifle, a tomahawk, and a scalping knife.
Myths of the Cherokee
James Mooney
As we had nothing but a small-bore rifle and not owning a shotgun, we appealed to father as to what we should do for a gun.
The Passenger Pigeon
Various
The result was a revelation to the small-bore politicians of the old régime.
The South American Republics Part I of II
Thomas C. Dawson
South Africa was a country which gave the freest play to the deadly properties of small-bore rifles.
History of the War in South Africa 1899-1902 v. 1 (of 4)
Sir Frederick Maurice.
The small-bore rifle bullets seemed to have no effect in stopping the rush, and the fanatics came on most gallantly.
Admiral Jellicoe
Arthur Applin

British Dictionary definitions for small-bore

small-bore

adjective

(of a firearm) having a small bore, especially one of less than .22 calibre

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