Word.ws English Dictionary

rolling calf

rolling calf noun: a demon in the form of a calf with fiery eyes which makes its presence known by rattling chains.

Noun

rolling calf (plural rolling calves)

  1. (Jamaica) A demon in the form of a calf with fiery eyes which makes its presence known by rattling chains.
    • 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...1954, Ian Fleming, “The Undertaker's Wind”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 186

Forms of rolling calf

pluralrolling calves

Origin of rolling calf

See Jamaican Creole Rolling Calf.

Questions about rolling calf

What does rolling calf mean?
Rolling calf means a demon in the form of a calf with fiery eyes which makes its presence known by rattling chains.
What part of speech is rolling calf?
Rolling calf is a noun.
What is the plural of rolling calf?
The plural of rolling calf is rolling calves.

Words near rolling calf in the dictionary

  1. rolling blocks
  2. rolling boil
  3. rolling boils
  4. rolling brownout
  5. rolling brownouts
  6. rolling calf
  7. rolling calves
  8. rolling chair
  9. rolling chairs
  10. rolling coal
  11. rolling contact

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rolling calf (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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