calf

plural calves · nonstandard plural calfs

1. A young cow or bull of any bovid, such as domestic cattle or buffalo.

   1 more example

   And Goldenhorns calved. A great day in the wilderness, a joy and a delight. They gave her flour-wash, and Isak himself saw to it there was no stint of flour, though he had carried it all the way himself, on his back. And there lay a pretty calf, a beauty, red-flanked like her mother, and comically bewildered at the miracle of coming into the world. In a couple of years she would be having calves of her own.

   1917, Knut Hamsun, Growth of the Soil, Book 1, Ch.3, at p.22

2. Leather made of the skin of domestic calves; especially, a fine, light-coloured leather used in bookbinding.

   1 more example

   We find now, that instead of leather made from sheep, calf, goat, and pig-skins, each having, when finished, its own characteristic surface, that sheepskins are got up to look like calf, morocco, or pigskin; that calf is grained to resemble morocco or so polished and fattened as to have but little character left; while goatskins are grained in any number of ways, and pigskin is often grained like levant morocco. So clever are some of these imitations that it takes a skilled expert to identify a leather when it is on a book. . . I am inclined to consider that calf, as a sound leather, has been manufactured out of existence, for it is unusual to find a 19th century calf binding of more than fifteen years old that does not show signs of decay.

   1900 Douglas Cockerell: Leather for Bookbinding. Journal of the Society of Arts, March 30 1900, p. 406

3. The young of various animals, especially elephant, giraffe, reindeer, seal, or whale (also indiscriminately used of other animals).
4. A mass of ice broken from a larger glacier, ice shelf, or iceberg.

   1915 (published), 1848 (first written), Elisha Kent Kane, Adrift in the Arctic Ice Pack Our swell ceases with this wind, and the floes seem disposed to come together again; but the days of winter have passed by, and the interposing calves prevent the apposition of the edges

5. A small island, near a larger island.

   1 more example

   Situated in the north of the Irish Sea and to the south-west of the isle of Man, the Calf of Man is ideally placed on the bird migration routes over the western side of the British Isles. Its importance for migrating and breeding birds had been recognised long before the observatory was established in 1959. . . Visitors can explore the Calf as day visitors or can stay in the hostel accommodation. . .

   2010 Kate Hawkins Calf of Man. In: Bird Observatories of Britain and Ireland, ed Mike Archer, Mark Grantham, et al. →ISBN (pages unnumbered)

6. A cabless railroad engine.
7. datedinformalAn awkward or silly boy or young man; any silly person; a dolt.

   some silly, doating, brainless calf

   1627, Michaell [i.e., Michael] Drayton, “Nimphidia. The Court of Fayrie.”, in The Battaile of Agincourt. […], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for William Lee, […], →OCLC

plural calves

1. anatomyThe back of the leg below the knee.
2. The muscle in the back of the leg below the knee.

   Sure, his calves are a little weak, but the rest of his physique is so overwhelming, he should place high.

   1988, Steve Holman, “Christian Conquers Columbus”, in Ironman, 47 (6): 28-34