Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To give birth to a calf.
- intransitive verb To break at an edge, so that a portion separates. Used of a glacier or iceberg.
- intransitive verb To give birth to (a calf).
- intransitive verb To set loose (a mass of ice). Used of a glacier or iceberg.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To bring forth a calf or calves: sometimes used contemptuously of human beings, and by Milton of the earth at the creation of cattle, etc.
- To become separated from or lose a portion of itself: said of a glacier when icebergs are broken off from it.
- To become detached and fall inward, as earth or rock from the walls of a cutting: with in. Now cave in.
- To give birth to, as a cow to a calf; bring forth.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To bring forth a calf.
- intransitive verb To bring forth young; to produce offspring.
- intransitive verb (Phys. Geog.) To throw off fragments which become icebergs; -- said of a glacier.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To give
birth to acalf . - verb To assist the giving of birth of a calf.
- verb figuratively To break off or shed a large piece.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb birth
- verb release ice
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word calve.
Examples
-
As Brinkley reminds us early on, Alaska is a land of wonderful verbiage - a place where glaciers "calve" shed hunks of ice, where the countryside is "the bush," where you can visit Misty Fiords and Gates of the Arctic, the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and the Island of the Standing Stone.
Fighting fiercely to keep Alaska wild Post 2011
-
As Brinkley reminds us early on, Alaska is a land of wonderful verbiage - a place where glaciers "calve" shed hunks of ice, where the countryside is "the bush," where you can visit Misty Fiords and Gates of the Arctic, the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and the Island of the Standing Stone.
Fighting fiercely to keep Alaska wild Post 2011
-
They'd quickly begin to "calve," sending babies out on shoots that would break off when the baby got big enough, and naturalize in their new home.
Tran Siberian Michael J. Solender 2010
-
Similarly like in the Arctic, the outer sections of ice break off or "calve" from these shelves and form icebergs.
Cryosphere 2009
-
Periodically, fissures and cracks form in theice shelf behind its front to the Ross Sea and large slabs of the shelfbreak off or "calve" to create tablular icebergs that float away into the Ross Sea.
Ross Ice Shelf 2009
-
Shackleton considered this location, which he named the Bay of Whales, too risky because of the possibility that the Barrier would "calve" a new tabular ice berg and the entire base either would float away into the sea or worse.
-
They'd quickly begin to "calve," sending babies out on shoots that would break off when the baby got big enough, and naturalize in their new home.
-
A 300 meter long asteriod will almost certainly break up, or "calve", just prior to or upon entry in the upper atmosphere.
-
These glaciers will literally "calve" enormous ghunkc of ice before your very eyes, and the chunks will hit the waters below with a surprisingly loud sound.
-
Shackleton had deemed this base too risky because of the possibility that the Barrier would "calve" a new tabular ice berg and the entire base either would float away into the sea or worse would fall into the sea.
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.