caliber

noun

cal·​i·​ber ˈka-lə-bər 

 British also  kə-ˈlē-

variants or calibre

1

a

: degree of mental capacity or moral quality

teachers of high caliber

b

: degree of excellence or importance

the caliber of instruction

2

a

: the diameter of a bullet or other projectile

b

: the diameter of a bore of a gun usually expressed in hundredths or thousandths of an inch and typically written as a decimal fraction

.32 caliber

3

: the diameter of a round or cylindrical body

especially : the internal diameter of a hollow cylinder

Synonyms

• class
• grade
• quality
• rate

Examples of caliber in a Sentence

I was impressed by the high caliber of the team's work.

musicians of the highest caliber perform at that concert hall

Recent Examples on the Web

With Jourdan Lewis leaving in free agency and Trevon Diggs coming back from a significant knee injury, Dallas needed a starting caliber corner from this year’s draft. —Jon MacHota, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2025

Green Bay has six starting caliber offensive linemen in Zach Tom, Elgton Jenkins, Aaron Banks, Sean Rhyan, Rasheed Walker and Jordan Morgan. —Rob Reischel, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025

For a pitcher of Fitts' caliber — a mid-rotation starter at best — the Cubs would be more likely to serve up catcher Pablo Aliendo, a $200,000 signing in 2018 also out of Venezuela, who is currently at Double-A seven years later. —David Faris, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Apr. 2025

The projectiles found at the scene matched the caliber of a gun found at Robinson’s home during a search warrant, officers said. —Paloma Chavez, Miami Herald, 11 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French calibre "internal diameter of a cylindrical object, displacement of a gun," borrowed (by uncertain mediation) from Arabic qālab, qālib "mold for casting metal, shoemaker's last," borrowed from Greek kalapod-, kalápous, kalópous "shoemaker's last," from kâla (plural) "wood, timber" (of uncertain origin) + -a- (perhaps after tetrápous "four-footed") or -o- -o- + poús "foot" — more at foot entry 1

First Known Use

1588, in the meaning defined at sense 2b

Rhymes for caliber

• excalibur

Kids Definition

caliber

noun

cal·​i·​ber

variants or calibre

ˈkal-ə-bər 

1

: degree of excellence or importance

2

: the diameter of a missile (as a bullet)

3

: the inside diameter of a gun barrel

Medical Definition

caliber

noun

cal·​i·​ber

variants or chiefly British calibre

ˈkal-ə-bər, British also kə-ˈlē-

: the diameter of a round or cylindrical body

especially : the internal diameter of a hollow cylinder