calve

Calve is a verb with two primary senses. In zoological and agricultural contexts, to calve means to give birth to a calf. This usage applies to cows and other bovines, as well as goats, sheep, and similar animals in appropriate husbandry settings. The event is described as the animal calving; the past tense is calved, the third-person singular form is calves, and the gerund is calving.

In glaciology, calving refers to the process by which chunks of ice break away from the edge of a glacier or ice shelf, forming an iceberg or ice fragments that float away. Calving is a key mechanism by which ice enters the ocean and can be influenced by factors such as temperature, surface melt, tidal forces, and the structural integrity of the ice body. The term is widely used in studies of glacier dynamics and climate-related changes in ice mass balance.

Usage notes and context can help distinguish senses. In everyday farming and veterinary language, calving describes parturition in cattle and related animals. In scientific and environmental contexts, calving describes the physical fragmentation of ice at glacier margins. The two senses share a common root in the noun calf but apply to very different phenomena: biological birth in animals and physical detachment of ice in polar and coastal environments.