calve

verb

ˈkav 

ˈkäv

calved; calving

intransitive verb

1

: to give birth to a calf

also : to produce offspring

2

of an ice mass : to separate or break so that a part becomes detached

transitive verb

1

: to produce by birth

2

of an ice mass : to let become detached

Examples of calve in a Sentence

The cow calved in the barn.

Recent Examples on the Web

That ice had either blown in or calved off of the iceberg and literally closed off our access. —Jill Heinerth, People.com, 23 Oct. 2024

The icebergs were calved from Sermeq Kujalleq, the world's fastest moving glacier, and fill a space that is the equivalent of 66,000 football fields. —Catherine Garcia, The Week Us, theweek, 15 Oct. 2024

There were some Thule artifacts and an animation showing how the calving front of the Jakobshavn Glacier—the source of Ilulissat’s icebergs—has moved over time. —Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024

The group also flagged a worst-case scenario in which 100-meter-or-higher ice cliffs at the front of Thwaites are formed and then rapidly calve off icebergs, causing runaway glacial retreat that could raise sea levels by tens of centimeters in this century. —Danielle Bochove / Bloomberg, TIME, 20 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English calven, going back to Old English (Anglian) *calfian, (West Saxon) cealfian, derivative of cælf, cealf calf entry 1

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Kids Definition

calve

verb

ˈkav 

ˈkȧv

calved; calving

1

: to give birth to a calf

2

of an ice mass : to break so that a large part becomes separated

a glacier calving icebergs