Definition of calf Calf

/kæˈf/ - [kaf] - calf

We found 26 definitions of calf from 7 different sources.

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What does calf mean?

WordNet

WordNet by Princeton University

Noun

Plural: calves

calf - the muscular back part of the shank
  sura
  skeletal muscle, striated muscle a muscle that is connected at either or both ends to a bone and so move parts of the skeleton; a muscle that is characterized by transverse stripes
  shank a poor golf stroke in which the heel of the club hits the ball
  mid-calf the middle of the calf; half way between the knee and ankle
  gastrocnemius, gastrocnemius muscle the muscle in the back part of the leg that forms the greater part of the calf; responsible for the plantar flexion of the foot
  soleus, soleus muscle a broad flat muscle in the calf of the leg under the gastrocnemius muscle
calf - young of domestic cattle
  young mammal any immature mammal
  bos taurus, cattle, cows, kine, oxen domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age; "so many head of cattle"; "wait till the cows come home"; "seven thin and ill-favored kine"- Bible; "a team of oxen"
  dogie, dogy, leppy motherless calf in a range herd of cattle
  maverick an unbranded range animal (especially a stray calf); belongs to the first person who puts a brand on it
calf - fine leather from the skin of a calf
  calfskin
  leather an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning
calf - young of various large placental mammals e.g. whale or giraffe or elephant or buffalo
= synonym
= antonym
= related word

Wiktionary Wiktionary dictionary logo

  • calf (Noun)
    A young cow or bull.
  • calf (Noun)
    A young elephant, seal or whale.
  • calf (Noun)
    A chunk of ice broken off of a larger glacier, ice shelf , or iceberg.
  • calf (Noun)
    A small island, near a larger island.
  • calf (Noun)
    A cabless railroad engine.
  • calf (Noun)
    An awkward or silly boy or young man; any silly person; a dolt.
  • calf (Noun)
    The back of the leg below the knee.
  • calf (Noun)
    The muscle in the back of the leg below the knee.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

  • calf (n.)
    The young of the cow, or of the Bovine family of quadrupeds. Also, the young of some other mammals, as of the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and whale.
  • calf (n.)
    Leather made of the skin of the calf; especially, a fine, light-colored leather used in bookbinding; as, to bind books in calf.
  • calf (n.)
    An awkward or silly boy or young man; any silly person; a dolt.
  • calf (n.)
    A small island near a larger; as, the Calf of Man.
  • calf (n.)
    A small mass of ice set free from the submerged part of a glacier or berg, and rising to the surface.
  • calf (n.)
    The fleshy hinder part of the leg below the knee.

OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω

  • calf
    The fleshy backside of the lower part of the leg.
  • calf
    Young cattle.
  • calf
    Young moose.

Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕

  • calf
    käf, n. the young of the cow and of some other animals, as marine mammals: calf-skin leather, bookbinding in such: a stupid or a cowardly person:—pl. Calves (kävz).—ns. Calf′-love, an attachment between a boy and girl; Calf's′-foot, Calves'-foot, the foot of the calf, used in making a palatable jelly; Calf′-skin, the skin of the calf, making a good leather for bookbinding and shoes.—Divinity calf, a dark-brown calf bookbinding, with blind stamping, and without gilding—common in the binding of theological books; Golden calf, the idol set up by Aaron during the absence of Moses on Sinai, or those erected by Jeroboam at Bethel and Dan: worship of Mammon or wealth; Half-calf, a bookbinding in which the back and corners are in calf-skin; Mottled calf, a light coloured bookbinding, decorated by the sprinkling of acid in drops; Smooth calf, a binding in plain or undecorated calf leather.—The calves of our lips (Hosea, xiv. 2), an offering of praise (the Septuagint reads, 'The fruit of our lips').—Tree calf, a bright brown calf bookbinding, stained by acids with a pattern resembling the trunk and branches of a tree. [A.S. cealf; Ger. kalb.]
  • calf
    käf, n. the thick fleshy part of the leg behind.—adj. Calf′less, with a thin, poor calf. [Ice. kalfi; perh. the same word as the preceding.]

Sailor's Word-BookThe Sailor's Word-Book

  • calf
    A word generally applied to the young of marine mammalia, as the whale.--Calf, in the Arctic regions, a mass of floe ice breaking from under a floe, which when disengaged rises with violence to the surface of the water; it differs from a tongue, which is the same body kept fixed beneath the main floe. The iceberg is formed by the repeated freezing of thawed snow running down over the slopes, until at length the wave from beneath and weight above causes it to break off and fall into the sea, or, as termed in Greenland, to calve. Thus, berg, is fresh-water ice, the work of years. The floe, is salt water frozen suddenly each winter, and dissolving in the summer.
  • calf
    A Norwegian name, also used in the Hebrides, for islets lying off islands, and bearing a similar relation to them in size that a calf does to a cow. As the Calf at Mull and the Calf of Man.

Part of speech

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Pronunciation

Word frequency

Calf is...

60% Complete
Very rare
Rare
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Common
Very Common
66% Complete
Rare
Normal
Common

Sign Language

calf in sign language
Sign language - letter C Sign language - letter C Sign language - letter A Sign language - letter A Sign language - letter L Sign language - letter L Sign language - letter F Sign language - letter F