calving

Verb

calve (third-person singular simple present calves, present participle calving, simple past and past participle calved)

1. (intransitive) To give birth to a calf.
   • The farmer could tell Bessie was about to calve.
2. (intransitive) To assist in a cow’s giving birth to a calf.
   • The farmer calved Bessie for almost two hours.
3. (transitive) To give birth to (a calf).
4. (especially, figuratively, intransitive, a glacier, an ice sheet) To shed a large piece.
   • The glacier was starting to calve even as we watched.
5. (especially, figuratively, intransitive) To break off.
   • The sea was dangerous because of icebergs calving off the nearby glacier.
6. (especially, figuratively, transitive, a glacier, an ice sheet) To shed (a large piece); to set loose (a mass of ice).
   • The glacier was starting to calve an iceberg even as we watched.