calve
to give birth to a calf: The cow is expected to calve tomorrow.
(of a glacier, an iceberg, etc.) to break up or splinter so as to produce a detached piece.
to give birth to (a calf).
(of a glacier, an iceberg, etc.) to break off or detach (a piece): The glacier calved an iceberg.
Origin of calve
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use calve in a sentence
The red cow ha' calved, an' no one here to see 'un, an' mother had to carry her a hot mash hersel'.
The World Before Them | Susanna MoodieMoney—gold calved no golden offspring, bills spawned no further bills as interest.
Mountain | Clement WoodA large section of the glacier—many thousands of tons—calved off into the sea.
The Home of the Blizzard | Douglas MawsonHalf a dozen cows which had recently calved were now separated from the herd, and driven into the wide end of the enclosure.
Out on the Pampas | G. A. HentyThe milk of the cow is not good when she is in season, near her time, or has lately calved.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume V (of 10) | Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
British Dictionary definitions for calve
/ (kɑːv) /
to give birth to (a calf)
(of a glacier or iceberg) to release (masses of ice) in breaking up
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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