calve

[ kav, kahv ]

/ kæv, kɑv /

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See synonyms for: calves on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), calved, calv·ing.

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.

verb (used with object), calved, calv·ing.

to give birth to (a calf).

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

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Origin of calve

before 1000; Middle English calven,Old English (Anglian) *calfian, derivative of calfcalf¹; cognate with Old English (West Saxon ) cealfian

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use calve in a sentence

Buoyed by polar currents, icebergs calve off mainland glaciers, carrying minerals and nutrients from land into the ocean.
These Photos Remind Us Why Conservation Matters - Issue 92: Frontiers|Kevin Berger|November 11, 2020|Nautilus
These cores contained distinct layers of sand and silt deposited by the ice sheet’s calved icebergs during four separate occasions over the last 42,000 years.
Large-scale changes in Earth’s climate may originate in the Pacific|Gloria Dickie|October 8, 2020|Science News
This last time I was down there in early 2020, it was calving three, four, sometimes five or six times a day.
The Greening of Antarctica - Issue 90: Something Green|Marissa Grunes|October 7, 2020|Nautilus
When I first got down there 20 years ago, Marr Glacier would calve a big chunk of ice into the bay next to the station maybe once a week.
The Greening of Antarctica - Issue 90: Something Green|Marissa Grunes|October 7, 2020|Nautilus

The first milk of the cow after calving, is slightly purgative, which is essential to cleanse the stomach of the calf.
Domestic Animals|Richard L. Allen
After calving, she should be stinted in her food for two or three days, and not fed freely for a week.
Domestic Animals|Richard L. Allen
The first milk drawn from a cow after calving, has been found to yield over 15 per cent.
Domestic Animals|Richard L. Allen
Take La Terre; do you think it is 'realistic' because it describes minutely, and probably faithfully, the event of a cow calving?
The Secret Glory|Arthur Machen
As opponent he wittily follows Gillray, who in 1802 imagined an inoculated man as calving from his arms.
George Cruikshank|W. H. Chesson

British Dictionary definitions for calve

calve

/ (kɑːv) /

verb

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