Words / B2

KAHF/kɑːf/

A calf is a young cow, or the back of the lower leg (plural calves): a newborn calf; a calf muscle. Cow and heifer are related farm terms; shin is the front of the lower leg. Weigh the calf in the livestock table. Mix-up: calf vs half; calve (the verb: to give birth to a calf); do not write calf for an adult cow in the source.

Meaning

A young cow, or the back of the lower leg (plural calves).

Examples

• “Weigh the calf in the livestock table; a calf strain featured in the PE case.”
• “Icebergs calve from the glacier, the geography paper said, which is the verb sense for ice — not the farm animal unless the livestock table says so.”

Good to know

a newborn calf; calves (plural); calf muscle / strain. Verb: calve. Trap: half. Biology, geography, and PE. A young cow, or the back of the lower leg — specify.

Near in meaning

heifer, young cow, gastrocnemius

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