veal

1 of 2

noun

ˈvēl 

1

: the flesh of a young calf

2

: calf

especially : vealer

Illustration of veal

• A wholesale cuts
• 1 leg
• 2 loin
• 3 flank
• 4 rib
• 5 breast
• 6 shoulder
• 7 shank
• B retail cuts
• 1 hind shank
• 2 heel of round
• 3 round
• 4 rump roast
• 5 sirloin steak
• 6 loin chops
• 7 kidney chops
• 8 flank
• 9 breast
• 10 rib roast
• 11 blade steak
• 12 arm steak
• 13 shoulder roast
• 14 foreshank

veal

2 of 2

verb

vealed; vealing; veals

transitive verb

: to kill and dress (a calf) for veal

Examples of veal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The thin strands of spaghetti still spool around a lush sauce made of pork, beef and veal, with a splash of cream adding a touch of richness, while pinches of spinach make a vain effort to cut through it with its bitter bite. —Matthew Odam, Austin American Statesman, 30 July 2025

On the first floor, diners can sit and enjoy full dinner service until 10:30 p.m., including the signature cannelloni au gratin filling a thin French-style crepe with beef, veal, pork, and porcini mushrooms, covered in creamy supreme sauce. —Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner, Forbes.com, 31 July 2025

Verb

Within that category, meats overall dropped 0.9% — with beef and veal down 2%, pork chops 1.1% cheaper and hot dogs falling 1.5%. —Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN, 12 Jan. 2022

April of last year, Ramirez introduced takeout, eschewing a tasting-menu model in favor of a la carte dishes like chicken soup with truffles and foie gras, and veal shank with fingerling potatoes. —Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 2 Nov. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English veel, borrowed from Anglo-French, "calf, veal," going back to Latin vitellus "small calf," diminutive of vitulus "calf"; akin to Greek hétalon "yearling," Old English wether "ram" — more at wether

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

circa 1901, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing veal

• bob veal

Rhymes for veal

• beal
• chiel
• ciel
• creel
• deal
• diel
• eel
• feel
• feil
• heal
• heel
• keel

Kids Definition

veal

noun

ˈvē(ə)l

: a young calf or its flesh for use as meat