calibrate

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verb cal·i·brate \ ˈka-lə-ˌbrāt \

Definition of calibrate

calibrated; calibrating

transitive verb

1 :to ascertain the caliber of (something) )

2 :to determine, rectify, or mark the graduations of (something, such as a thermometer tube)

3 :to standardize (something, such as a measuring instrument) by determining the deviation from a standard so as to ascertain the proper correction factors

4 :to adjust precisely for a particular function

calibrate a thermometer

5 :to measure precisely

carefully calibrate the dosage of a medicine

; especially :to measure against a standard

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calibrator

play \-ˌbrā-tər\ noun

See calibrate defined for English-language learners

See calibrate defined for kids

Examples of calibrate in a Sentence

carefully calibrate the dosage of a medicine

Recent Examples of calibrate from the Web

Watson said disaster models just aren’t calibrated for a storm like Harvey.

— brian k sullivan, Bloomberg.com, "Harvey Makes Second Landfall on Battered Gulf Coastline," 30 Aug. 2017
Once her eyes were calibrated, Wallace found the mystery ash everywhere, from an Anchor Point gravel pit, to the Barren Islands about 60 miles from Homer, to the banks of the Kamishak River.

— erin mckittrick, Alaska Dispatch News, "Digging up Alaska’s volcanic secrets," 29 July 2017
The array often uses Titan to calibrate its instruments because the brightness of the moon is known so precisely.

— shannon stirone, Popular Mechanics, "Chemical on Saturn's Moon Titan Could Form Cell Membranes," 28 July 2017
The researchers calibrated and validated their model using past measles transmission and outbreak data from the US, England, and Wales.

— beth mole, Ars Technica, "Study: US is slipping toward measles being endemic once again," 25 July 2017
At full operating capacity, the facility features a series of hydraulic panels and inflatable bladders that are used in sync to create the waves (the staff has years of notes, calibrating waves at different river levels.)

— joe carberry, idahostatesman, "Two ‘obsessed’ Boise River users create the whitewater waves you play in," 17 July 2017
Properly calibrated to avoid poisoning the cells, those protectants could help ensure that an egg would evenly vitrify (becoming glasslike) when it was dunked into a liquid nitrogen bath.

— jacob brogan, Smithsonian, "A Cool New Way to Freeze and Unfreeze Zebrafish Embryos Using Gold Nanotechnology and Lasers," 13 July 2017
But modern metabolic reactions are carefully calibrated inside living cells, in the presence of oxygen.

— roland pease, Science | AAAS, "How sunlight might have jump-started life on Earth," 12 July 2017
Measuring is hard The microwave-sensing instrument itself has to be constantly calibrated by making measurements of deep space and of a small target on the satellite that’s hooked up to standard thermometers.

— scott k. johnson, Ars Technica, "Satellite temperature record update closes gap with surface records," 5 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'calibrate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of calibrate

1850

Other Chemical Engineering Terms

alkali, cation, decant, hygroscopic, isotope, oxidize, slurry, solute, viscous

CALIBRATE Defined for English Language Learners

calibrate

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verb

Definition of calibrate for English Language Learners

: to adjust or mark (something, such as a measuring device) so that it can be used in an accurate and exact way
: to measure (something) in an exact and precise way