Meanings
plural rolling calves
- JamaicaA demon in the form of a calf with fiery eyes which makes its presence known by rattling chains.
1 more example
Occasionally a pair of fishermen, or a group of giggling girls, would walk by down the beach on their way to the single tiny rum-shop at the point of the bay. No man walked alone for fear of the duppies under the trees, or the rolling calf, the ghastly animal that comes rolling towards you along the ground, its legs in chains and flames coming out of its nostrils.
1954, Ian Fleming, “The Undertaker's Wind”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 186
Origin
See Jamaican Creole Rolling Calf.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
rolling calf. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rolling%20calf
“rolling calf.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rolling%20calf. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rolling calf,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rolling%20calf.
Source: rolling calf on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.