CALVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does calve mean? 

• CALVE (verb)
  The verb CALVE has 2 senses:

1. release ice

2. give birth to (a calf)

  Familiarity information: CALVE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CALVE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they calve    ... he / she / it calves   
Past simple: calved   
Past participle: calved   
-ing form: calving   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Release ice

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

break up; calve

Context example:

The icebergs and glaciers calve

Hypernyms (to "calve" is one way to...):

divide; part; separate (come apart)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give birth to (a calf)

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

calve; have young

Context example:

the whales calve at this time of year

Hypernyms (to "calve" is one way to...):

bear; birth; deliver; give birth; have (cause to be born)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

 Context examples 

As a result, the calving front divided into two sections, with one running east-west and another running north-south.

(Retreat of Yakutat Glacier, NASA)

P/2016 BA14 is roughly half the size of comet 252P/LINEAR and might be a fragment that calved off sometime in the larger comet's past.

(A 'Tail' of Two Comets, NASA)

A species of PAPILLOMAVIRUS producing large numbers of warts on calves.

(Bovine Papillomavirus, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Edge of the ice sheet where melting and calving of icebergs occurs.

(Ice sheet margin, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)

Hans went into the stable, cut out all the calves’ and sheep’s eyes, and threw them in Gretel’s face.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

You have only to look at his calves to see that Nature built him for it.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Throughout the night he heard the cough of the sick wolf, and now and then the squawking of the caribou calves.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Boots which extended halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence which was suggested by his whole appearance.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Patients experience cramping and pain usually in the calves and thighs while walking.

(Peripheral Arterial Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)

Hyperimmune bovine colostrum is harvested during the first days after calving from cows that have been inoculated repeatedly with specific pathogens during pregnancy.

(Hyperimmune Bovine Colostrum, NCI Thesaurus)