Definition of "calve" in English

verb

1. (intransitive) To give birth to a calf.

   • The farmer could tell Bessie was about to calve.

2. (intransitive) To assist in a cow’s giving birth to a calf.

   • The farmer calved Bessie for almost two hours.

3. (transitive) To give birth to (a calf).

4. (intransitive, figuratively, especially of an ice shelf, a glacier, an ice sheet, or even an iceberg) To shed a large piece, e.g. an iceberg or a smaller block of ice (coming off an iceberg).

   • The glacier was starting to calve even as we watched.

5. (intransitive, figuratively, especially of an iceberg) To break off.

   • The sea was dangerous because of icebergs calving off the nearby glacier.

6. (transitive, figuratively, especially of an ice shelf, a glacier, an ice sheet, or even an iceberg) To shed (a large piece, e.g. an iceberg); to set loose (a mass of ice), e.g. a block of ice (coming off an iceberg).

   • The glacier was starting to calve an iceberg even as we watched.