Dictionary-Definition.com :: Calf definition

Definition of 'calf'

noun

Young of domestic cattle

noun

The muscular back part of the shank [syn: calf, sura]

noun

Fine leather from the skin of a calf [syn: calf, calfskin]

noun

Young of various large placental mammals e.g. whale or giraffe or elephant or buffalo

From: GCIDE

Calf \Calf\, n.; pl. Calves. [OE. calf, kelf, AS. cealf; akin to D. kalf, G. kalb, Icel. k[=a]lfr, Sw. kalf, Dan. kalv, Goth. kalb[=o]; cf. Skr. garbha fetus, young, Gr. ?????, Skr grabh to seize, conceive, Ir. colpa, colpach, a calf. [root]222.]
1. The young of the cow, or of the Bovine family of quadrupeds. Also, the young of some other mammals, as of the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and whale. [1913 Webster]
2. Leather made of the skin of the calf; especially, a fine, light-colored leather used in bookbinding; as, to bind books in calf. [1913 Webster]
3. An awkward or silly boy or young man; any silly person; a dolt. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
Some silly, doting, brainless calf. --Drayton. [1913 Webster]
4. A small island near a larger; as, the Calf of Man. [1913 Webster]
5. A small mass of ice set free from the submerged part of a glacier or berg, and rising to the surface. --Kane. [1913 Webster]
6. [Cf. Icel. k[=a]lfi.] The fleshy hinder part of the leg below the knee. [1913 Webster]
Calf's-foot jelly, jelly made from the feet of calves. The gelatinous matter of the feet is extracted by boiling, and is flavored with sugar, essences, etc. [1913 Webster]

Calf Calves were commonly made use of in sacrifices, and are therefore frequently mentioned in Scripture. The "fatted calf" was regarded as the choicest of animal food; it was frequently also offered as a special sacrifice (1 Sam. 28:24; Amos 6:4; Luke 15:23). The words used in Jer. 34:18, 19, "cut the calf in twain," allude to the custom of dividing a sacrifice into two parts, between which the parties ratifying a covenant passed (Gen. 15:9, 10, 17, 18). The sacrifice of the lips, i.e., priase, is called "the calves of our lips" (Hos. 14:2, R.V., "as bullocks the offering of our lips." Comp. Heb. 13:15; Ps. 116:7; Jer. 33:11).
The golden calf which Aaron made (Ex. 32:4) was probably a copy of the god Moloch rather than of the god Apis, the sacred ox or calf of Egypt. The Jews showed all through their history a tendency toward the Babylonian and Canaanitish idolatry rather than toward that of Egypt.
Ages after this, Jeroboam, king of Israel, set up two idol calves, one at Dan, and the other at Bethel, that he might thus prevent the ten tribes from resorting to Jerusalem for worship (1 Kings 12:28). These calves continued to be a snare to the people till the time of their captivity. The calf at Dan was carried away in the reign of Pekah by Tiglath-pileser, and that at Bethel ten years later, in the reign of Hoshea, by Shalmaneser (2 Kings 15:29; 17:33). This sin of Jeroboam is almost always mentioned along with his name (2 Kings 15:28 etc.).