High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A caliper (British spelling also calliper, or in plurale tantum sense a pair of callipers) is a device used to measure the distance between two opposite sides of an object. A caliper can be as simple as a compass with inward or outward-facing points. The tips of the caliper are adjusted to fit across the points to be measured, the caliper is then removed and the distance read by measuring between the tips with a measuring tool, such as a ruler.