calve

[kav, kahv]

verb (used without object)

calved, calving 

1. to give birth to a calf.

   The cow is expected to calve tomorrow.

2. (of a glacier, an iceberg, etc.) to break up or splinter so as to produce a detached piece.

verb (used with object)

calved, calving 

1. to give birth to (a calf ).

2. (of a glacier, an iceberg, etc.) to break off or detach (a piece).

   The glacier calved an iceberg.

calve

/ kɑːv /

verb

1. to give birth to (a calf)

2. (of a glacier or iceberg) to release (masses of ice) in breaking up

Word History and Origins

Origin of calve¹

before 1000; Middle English calven, Old English (Anglian) *calfian, derivative of calf calf ¹; cognate with Old English ( West Saxon ) cealfian

Example Sentences

The icebergs are comparable in size to some of the smaller icebergs found off present-day Antarctica, such as blocks that calved from the Larsen B ice shelf in 2002.

From BBC

Climate change is unlikely to have been behind the birth of A23a because it calved so long ago, before much of the impacts of rising temperatures that we are now seeing.

From BBC

Farmers often move cattle across great distances, for calving in one place, raising in warm, dry climates, and milking in cooler ones.

From Salon

Many dairy farms schedule calving to occur in late winter or early spring.

From Salon

The whales feast all summer long, and only then embark on a 6,000-mile journey south to Mexico, where females calve and nurse their young in the warm and protected inlets along the Baja Peninsula.

From Los Angeles Times