From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Caliber \Cal"i*ber\, Calibre \Cal"ibre\, noun [F. calibre, perh. fr. L. qualibra of what pound, of what weight; hence, of what size, applied first to a ball or bullet; cf. also Ar. q[=a]lib model, mold. Cf. {Calipers}, {Calivere}.]
1. (Gunnery) The diameter of the bore, as a cannon or other firearm, or of any tube; or the weight or size of the projectile which a firearm will carry; as, an 8 inch gun, a 12-pounder, a 44 caliber.
The caliber of empty tubes. --Reid.
A battery composed of three guns of small caliber. --Prescott.
Note: The caliber of firearms is expressed in various ways. Cannon are often designated by the weight of a solid spherical shot that will fit the bore; as, a 12-pounder; pieces of ordnance that project shell or hollow shot are designated by the diameter of their bore; as, a 12 inch mortar or a 14 inch shell gun; small arms are designated by hundredths of an inch expressed decimally; as, a rifle of .44 inch caliber.
2. The diameter of round or cylindrical body, as of a bullet or column.
3. Fig.: Capacity or compass of mind. --Burke.
{Caliber compasses}. See {Calipers}.
{Caliber rule}, a gunner's calipers, an instrument having two scales arranged to determine a ball's weight from its diameter, and conversely.
{A ship's caliber}, the weight of her armament.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: a degree or grade of excellence or worth; "the quality of students has risen"; "an executive of low caliber" [syn: {quality}, {calibre}]
2: diameter of a tube or gun barrel [syn: {bore}, {gauge}, {calibre}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
150 Moby Thesaurus words for "caliber": IQ, ability, ableness, adequacy, amount, amplitude, apprehension, area, bigness, body, bore, breadth, bulk, bump, capability, capableness, capacity, class, compass, competence, comprehension, conception, coverage, cut, deductive power, degree, depth, diameter, dimension, dimensions, dower, dowry, efficacy, efficiency, endowment, equipment, esemplastic power, expanse, expansion, extension, extent, facility, faculty, fitness, flair, force, forte, gauge, genius, gift, girth, grade, greatness, height, ideation, instinct, integrative power, intellect, intellectual grasp, intellectual power, intellectualism, intellectuality, intelligence, intelligence quotient, interval, knowledge, largeness, leap, length, level, long suit, magnitude, makings, mark, mass, measure, measurement, mental age, mental capacity, mental grasp, mental ratio, mentality, merit, metier, mother wit, native wit, natural endowment, natural gift, notch, nuance, parts, pas, peg, period, pitch, plane, plateau, point, potential, power, power of mind, powers, proficiency, proportion, proportions, qualification, radius, range, ratio, rationality, reach, reasoning power, remove, round, rung, sanity, scale, scope, scope of mind, semidiameter, sense, shade, shadow, size, space, speciality, spread, stair, standard, stature, step, stint, strong flair, strong point, sufficiency, susceptibility, talent, talents, the goods, the stuff, thinking power, tread, understanding, value, virtue, volume, what it takes, width, wit, worth
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