calipers

English

WOTD – 5 August 2009

Calipers

Alternative forms

callipers

Etymology

A corruption of caliber.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkæl.ɪ.pəz/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈkæl.ɨ.pɚz/
Audio (AU) (file)

Noun

calipers pl (plural only)

A device used to measure thickness between two surfaces, especially for small or precise measurements.
- 1902, Joseph Conrad, chapter I, in Heart of Darkness:
  "Good, good for there," he mumbled, and then with a certain eagerness asked me whether I would let him measure my head. Rather surprised, I said Yes, when he produced a thing like calipers and got the dimensions back and front and every way, taking notes carefully.
(Britain) A metal (orthopedic) leg support.
Synonym: leg braces (US)

Related terms

Translations

device used to measure thickness between two surfaces

Bulgarian: дебеломер m (debelomer)
Catalan: calibrador m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 測徑器 (zh), 测径器 (zh) (cèjìngqì)
Danish: skydelære (da) c
Dutch: passer (nl)
Finnish: tulkki (fi), työntömitta (fi), rakotulkki (fi)
French: compas d'épasseur
Georgian: მზომი (mzomi), კალიპერი (ḳaliṗeri)

German: Stangenzirkel n, Messschieber (de) m
Icelandic: rennimál n, skífmál n
Norwegian: skyvelære (no) m or f
Polish: suwmiarka (pl) f
Portuguese: paquímetro m
Russian: штангенци́ркуль (ru) m (štangencírkulʹ)
Spanish: calibre (es) m
Swedish: krumpassare c, krumcirkel c, skjutmått (sv) n

See also

compass

Anagrams

earclips, replicas, spiracle

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