CALF (calves)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: calves   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does calf mean? 

• CALF (noun)
  The noun CALF has 4 senses:

1. young of domestic cattle

2. the muscular back part of the shank

3. fine leather from the skin of a calf

4. young of various large placental mammals e.g. whale or giraffe or elephant or buffalo

  Familiarity information: CALF used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CALF (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Young of domestic cattle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("calf" is a kind of...):

young mammal (any immature mammal)

Meronyms (parts of "calf"):

veal; veau (meat from a calf)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "calf"):

dogie; dogy; leppy (motherless calf in a range herd of cattle)

maverick (an unbranded range animal (especially a stray calf); belongs to the first person who puts a brand on it)

Holonyms ("calf" is a member of...):

Bos taurus; cattle; cows; kine; oxen (domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The muscular back part of the shank

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

calf; sura

Hypernyms ("calf" is a kind of...):

skeletal muscle; striated muscle (a muscle that is connected at either or both ends to a bone and so move parts of the skeleton; a muscle that is characterized by transverse stripes)

Meronyms (parts of "calf"):

gastrocnemius; gastrocnemius muscle (the muscle in the back part of the leg that forms the greater part of the calf; responsible for the plantar flexion of the foot)

soleus; soleus muscle (a broad flat muscle in the calf of the leg under the gastrocnemius muscle)

Achilles tendon; tendon of Achilles (a large tendon that runs from the heel to the calf)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "calf"):

mid-calf (the middle of the calf; half way between the knee and ankle)

Holonyms ("calf" is a part of...):

shank (the part of the human leg between the knee and the ankle)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Fine leather from the skin of a calf

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

calf; calfskin

Hypernyms ("calf" is a kind of...):

leather (an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "calf"):

box calf (black calfskin leather tanned with chromium salts)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Young of various large placental mammals e.g. whale or giraffe or elephant or buffalo

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("calf" is a kind of...):

young mammal (any immature mammal)

 Context examples 

Patients experience cramping and pain usually in the calves and thighs while walking.

(Peripheral Arterial Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)

They salted the flesh, and the peasant went into the town and wanted to sell the skin there, so that he might buy a new calf with the proceeds.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

“Why, what a precious old sea-calf I am!” he said at last, wiping his cheeks.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

You see, this morning the poundman got Maria's two cows and the baby calf, and—well, it happened that Maria didn't have any money, and so I had to recover her cows for her.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It innervates the calf and foot.

(Common Peroneal Nerve, NCI Thesaurus)

The small, lateral calf bone extending from the knee to the ankle.

(Fibula, NCI Thesaurus)

A species of PAPILLOMAVIRUS producing large numbers of warts on calves.

(Bovine Papillomavirus, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A moment later, however, he flung it over his head, and caught it bottom downwards upon the calf of his left leg.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You have only to look at his calves to see that Nature built him for it.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I do wonder if any of us will ever get our wishes, said Laurie, chewing grass like a meditative calf.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)