Definitions for Caliber

This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word Caliber

Princeton's WordNet

  1. quality, caliber, calibre(noun)

    a degree or grade of excellence or worth


  2. bore, gauge, caliber, calibre(noun)

    diameter of a tube or gun barrel

Webster Dictionary

  1. Caliber(noun)

    alt. of Calibre


  1. Caliber

    In guns, particularly firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel, or the diameter of the projectile it fires. In a rifled barrel, the distance is measured between opposing lands or grooves; groove measurements are common in cartridge designations originating in the United States, while land measurements are more common elsewhere. Good performance requires that a bullet closely match the groove diameter of a barrel to ensure a good seal. When the barrel diameter is given in inches, the abbreviation "cal" is used in place of "inches." For example, a small bore rifle with a diameter of 0.22 inch is a .22 cal; however, the decimal point is generally dropped when spoken, making it "twenty-two caliber" or a "two-two caliber". Calibers of firearms can be referred to in millimeters, as in a "caliber of eighty-eight millimeters" or "a hundred and five-millimeter caliber gun". While modern cartridges and cartridge firearms are generally referred to by the cartridge name, they are still lumped together based on bore diameter. For example, a firearm might be described as a .30 caliber rifle, which could be any of a wide range of cartridges using a roughly .30 inch projectile; or a ".22 rimfire", referring to any rimfire cartridge using a .22 caliber projectile.


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