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Synonyms

calf love

American  

noun

  1. puppy love.


calf love British  

noun

  1. Also called: puppy love.  temporary infatuation or love of an adolescent for a member of the opposite sex

"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

Etymology

Origin of calf love

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In the 24 years since young Jack Pickford played Willie Baxter in the silent screen version of Seventeen, cinemaddicts forgot how much charm there is in that classic of calf love on Main Street.

From Time Magazine Archive

But Edward Ellis, who helped make memorable the cheaply made quickie, A Man To Remember, does not turn the trick with this thin-spun tale of village politics, catty gossip, calf love.

From Time Magazine Archive

People laugh at "calf love," but one might as well laugh at the wonder of dawn or the coming of spring.

From Pebbles on the shore [by] Alpha of the plough by Gardiner, A. G. (Alfred George)

"You know the history of my calf love three years ago, Wally."

From The Postmaster's Daughter by Tracy, Louis

Doesn't it look rather too like a case of calf love?

From Candida by Shaw, Bernard