calf


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Related to calf: golden calf

calf 1

 (kăf, käf)
n. pl. calves (kăvz, kävz)
1.
a. A young cow or bull.
b. One of the young of certain other mammals, such as moose, elephants, or whales.
2. Calfskin leather.
3. A large floating chunk of ice split off from a glacier, iceberg, or floe.
4. An awkward, callow youth.

[Middle English, from Old English cealf.]

calf 2

 (kăf, käf)
n. pl. calves (kăvz, kävz)
The fleshy muscular back part of the human leg between the knee and ankle.

[Middle English, from Old Norse kālfi; possibly akin to calf (from its shape).]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

calf

(kɑːf)
n, pl calves
1. (Zoology) the young of cattle, esp domestic cattle.
2. (Zoology) the young of certain other mammals, such as the buffalo, elephant, giraffe, and whale
3. (Geological Science) a large piece of floating ice detached from an iceberg, etc
4. kill the fatted calf to celebrate lavishly, esp as a welcome
5. (Tanning) another name for calfskin
[Old English cealf; related to Old Norse kālfr, Gothic kalbō, Old High German kalba]

calf

(kɑːf)
n, pl calves
(Anatomy) the thick fleshy part of the back of the leg between the ankle and the knee.
[C14: from Old Norse kalfi]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

calf1

(kæf, kɑf)

n., pl. calves (kavz, kävz).
1. the young of the domestic cow or other bovine animal.
2. the young of certain other mammals, as the elephant, seal, and whale.
3. calfskin leather.
4. Informal. an awkward, silly boy or man.
5. a mass of ice detached from a glacier, iceberg, or floe.
[before 900; Old English cealf, calf]

calf2

(kæf, kɑf)

n., pl. calves (kavz, kävz).
the fleshy part of the back of the human leg below the knee.
[1275–1325; < Old Norse kalfi]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.calf - young of domestic cattlecalf - 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
veal, veau - meat from a calf
2.calf - the muscular back part of the shank
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 - the part of the human leg between the knee and the ankle
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
Achilles tendon, tendon of Achilles - a large tendon that runs from the heel to the calf
3.calf - fine leather from the skin of a calf
leather - an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning
box calf - black calfskin leather tanned with chromium salts
4.calf - young of various large placental mammals e.g. whale or giraffe or elephant or buffalo
young mammal - any immature mammal
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

calf

noun
Related words
adjective vituline
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Translations
بطّـة السّاق ، رَبْلَهجِلْدُ العِجِلرَبْلَةعِجِلعِجْل
lýtkoteletelecí kůžemládě
kalvlægkalveskind
bovido
vasikas
pohjevasikkapoikanen
list nogetele
borjújégtömbkölyök
kálfurkálfikálfshúî, kálfskinn
ふくらはぎ子牛脹脛こうし
송아지종아리
sura
liels/ikrimazulisteļādateļš
kalfkuitkuitspierjong
lýtkoteľa
tele
teleтеле
kalvvader
น่องลูกวัว
danabaldırbuzağıdana derisi…yavrusu
bắp châncon bê

calf

1 [kɑːf]
A. N (calves (pl))
1. (= young cow) → becerro/a m/f, ternero/a m/f; (= young seal, elephant etc) → cría f; (= young whale) → ballenato m
the cow is in or with calfla vaca está preñada
to kill the fatted calfcelebrar una fiesta de bienvenida
B. CPD calf love Namor m juvenil

calf

2 [kɑːf] N (calves (pl)) (Anat) → pantorrilla f, canilla f (esp LAm)
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

calf

[ˈkɑːf] [calves] [ˈkɑːvz] (pl) n
[cow] → veau m
[other animal] → petit m
(= calfskin) → veau m, vachette f
[leg] → mollet m
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

calf

:
calf love
n(jugendliche) Schwärmerei
calfskin
nKalb(s)leder nt

calf

1
n pl <calves>
Kalb nt; a cow in or with calfeine trächtige Kuh
(= young elephant, seal etc)Junge(s) nt, → -junge(s) nt
(= leather)Kalb(s)leder nt

calf

2
n pl <calves> (Anat) → Wade f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

calf

1 [kɑːf] n (calves (pl)) [kɑːvs]
a. (young cow) → vitello
seal/elephant calf → piccolo di foca/elefante

calf

2 [kɑːf] n (calves (pl)) [kɑːvs] (Anat) → polpaccio
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

calf1

(kaːf) plural calves (kaːvz) noun
1. the young of a cow, elephant, whale etc.
2. (also ˈcalfskin) leather made from the skin of the young of a cow.
calve (kaːv) verb
to give birth to a calf. The cow calved last night.

calf2

(kaːf) plural calves (kaːvz) noun
the thick fleshy back part of the leg below the knee. She has slim ankles but fat calves.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

calf

رَبْلَة, عِجْل lýtko, tele kalv, læg Kalb, Wade γάμπα, μοσχάρι cría, pantorrilla, ternero pohje, vasikka mollet, veau list noge, tele polpaccio, vitello ふくらはぎ, 子牛 송아지, 종아리 kalf, kuit kalv, legg cielę, łydka bezerro, gémeo, panturrilha икра, теленок kalv, vader น่อง, ลูกวัว baldır, dana bắp chân, con bê 小牛, 小腿
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

calf

n.,pl. pantorrilla; [animal] ternero-a.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

calf

n (pl calves) (anat) pantorrilla
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
When she had learnt enough she took my son into a distant place and changed him into a calf. Then she gave him to my steward, and told him to look after a calf she had bought.
The casket of the skull is broken into with an axe, and the two plump, whitish lobes being withdrawn (precisely resembling two large puddings), they are then mixed with flour, and cooked into a most delectable mess, in flavor somewhat resembling calves' head, which is quite a dish among some epicures; and every one knows that some young bucks among the epicures, by continually dining upon calves' brains, by and by get to have a little brains of their own, so as to be able to tell a calf's head from their own heads; which, indeed, requires uncommon discrimination.
'Listen, I have a good idea, there is our gossip the carpenter, he shall make us a wooden calf, and paint it brown, so that it looks like any other, and in time it will certainly get big and be a cow.' the woman also liked the idea, and their gossip the carpenter cut and planed the calf, and painted it as it ought to be, and made it with its head hanging down as if it were eating.
Pava, a perfect beauty, huge as a hippopotamus, with her back turned to them, prevented their seeing the calf, as she sniffed her all over.
Batches of the animals were sent away daily to this lying-in hospital, where they lived on straw till their calves were born, after which event, and as soon as the calf could walk, mother and offspring were driven back to the dairy.
A young Calf came up, and offered to go before and show him the way by which he could manage to pass.
The schooner, in a dead calm, was rolling over the huge, smooth seas, her boom sheets and tackles crashing to the hollow thunder of her great sails, when Simon Nishikanta put a bullet into the body of the little whale calf. By an almost miracle of chance, the shot killed the calf.
Aunt Polly says she hopes you are comfortable to-day, and she's sent you some calf's-foot jelly."
The calf got the shirt, I reckon, but the calf never took the spoon, THAT'S certain."
One night he slid down from the post and slipped in between the elephants and threw up the loose end of a rope, which had dropped, to a driver who was trying to get a purchase on the leg of a kicking young calf (calves always give more trouble than full-grown animals).
The advice of the fourth was that the columns of the capitol be rubbed with oil of dog by a person having a moustache on the calf of his leg.
When a calf, he had belonged to Meav's herd, but being very proud, and thinking it little honor to be under the rule of a woman, he had left Meav's herd and joined himself to the King's.