Meaning & use
.44
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Meaning
nouncountable or uncountablespecialist
A firearm caliber label for ammunition with a bore diameter of about 0.44 inch, such as .44 Magnum.
Grammar: Use uncountably for caliber: chambered in .44; countably for a gun or cartridge type: a .44, two .44s.
Patterns
- a .44 Magnum
- chambered in .44
- a .44 revolver
The revolver is chambered in .44 Magnum.
The label .44 refers to an approximate bore diameter, not the exact bullet diameter of every cartridge.
He compared a .44 with a smaller .38 in the catalog.
Word forms
| plural | .44s |
|---|
Common combinations
- .44 Magnum
- The .44 Magnum is a famous large-bore revolver cartridge.
- .44 Special
- The .44 Special is a related cartridge with a milder reputation than the Magnum.
- chambered in .44
- That single-action revolver is chambered in .44.
- .44 caliber
- In casual speech, some people say .44 caliber for the designation.
Synonyms and how they differ
- forty-four caliber
- The spoken expanded form; in writing the decimal designation is more standard.
- .44 Magnum
- A specific famous cartridge; do not use it for every cartridge that merely carries the .44 label.
- .44 Special
- Another specific .44-family cartridge; same general bore class, different loading and history.
Word family
Commonly confused: .44 or .45? .44 or 9 mm?
.44 vs .45
.45 designates a larger nominal bore class than .44, so the numbers are not interchangeable.
.44 vs 9 mm
9 mm is a metric designation based on millimeters; .44 is an inch-based decimal designation.
Practice
What does the .44 in .44 Magnum approximately indicate?
Choose one answer.
The leading decimal names the approximate inch-based bore class. Barrel length, exact bullet weight, and price are separate specifications and are not encoded by .44.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “.44”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.