calf

Other forms of calf

plural

calves

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about calf

What does calf mean?

calf means "young of domestic cattle". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in calf?

calf has 1 syllable: calf. In IPA it is /ˈkæf/.

What is another word for calf?

Close synonyms include sura, calfskin. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is calf a common word?

calf is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.