How to Use calve in a Sentence

calve

verb
  • The cow calved in the barn.
  • As the glacier flows out to sea, icebergs calve off the ocean-facing end of the ice shelf.
    — Sarah Gibbens, Environment, 28 Dec. 2020
  • This process causes the glacier to become top-heavy and thus more likely to calve.
    — Jennifer Leman, Scientific American, 26 July 2019
  • This process speeds up when the climate warms, as does calving into the sea, which forms icebergs.
    — Keiji Horikawa, The Conversation, 22 Dec. 2025
  • The wet whoosh of whale breath joined the thunder cracks of calving glaciers and the rumbles of avalanches.
    — Kate Wong, Scientific American, 13 Mar. 2023
  • The giant pancake of Malaspina Glacier does not calve into the ocean.
    — Ned Rozell, Anchorage Daily News, 27 Feb. 2021
  • Other scientists say calving events like this, even of this scale, are normal for ice sheets.
    — Dino Grandoni, Washington Post, 12 July 2017
  • Electric fences can keep bears, wolves and coyotes out of calving and lambing pastures.
    — Ben Long, The Denver Post, 13 Feb. 2024
  • That ice had either blown in or calved off of the iceberg and literally closed off our access.
    — Jill Heinerth, People.com, 23 Oct. 2024
  • The calving event resulted from two cracks that were first spotted last year using satellites.
    — Andrew Freedman, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Feb. 2020
  • Ludovico even played the piece live on Arctic waters, as glaciers calved in the distance.
    — Andrew Dansby, Houston Chronicle, 11 July 2018
  • While that's happening, tall and thing icebergs called pinnacle bergs calve off and flip upside down.
    — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 10 July 2018
  • The next day is spent at Hubbard Glacier, where guests are likely to see electric blue glaciers calving.
    — Bailey Berg, AFAR Media, 28 Jan. 2026
  • Elk, bison and moose also calve during this period, so give the parents and their offspring a wide berth.
    — Andrea Sachs, Washington Post, 22 June 2022
  • The first newborn right whale of the winter calving season has been spotted off the coast of Georgia.
    — USA TODAY, 19 Dec. 2019
  • As glaciers calve more icebergs into the ocean, the large chunks of floating ice can be hazardous to both ships and oil operations.
    — Chelsea Harvey, Scientific American, 19 Aug. 2019
  • Recording the glacier's calving four times a day with a pair of autonomous lasers, dubbed Atlas.
    — Paul Voosen, Science Magazine, 10 Oct. 2019
  • The herd migrates from calving grounds north of Dillingham to winter range southeast of Bethel.
    — Zaz Hollander, Anchorage Daily News, 10 June 2023
  • The glacier is calving, or shedding ice, which Pierce said slowed responders in reaching the bodies.
    — CBS News, 31 July 2019
  • This is especially true during the early months of the year (high season), when humpback whales are calving off the coast.
    — Peter Kelly, Travel + Leisure, 18 Aug. 2025
  • First, the Porcupine caribou herd does not calve in the 10-02 area every year.
    — Erica Martinson, Alaska Dispatch News, 3 Nov. 2017
  • All is quiet while the entire tour group awaits the sound of a large ice chunk breaking off from the glacier's edge, a frequent occurrence known as calving.
    — Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 10 Nov. 2025
  • At one of the countless small lakes that pepper the region, chunks of shoreline that include what had been permafrost have calved off toward the water.
    — Henry Fountain, The Seattle Times, 23 Aug. 2017
  • As ice melts and glaciers calve into the sea, the total mass of the Greenland Ice Sheet decreases.
    — Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 30 Aug. 2014
  • Back at the ranch, heifers would start calving in a month, and wildflowers would begin to bloom, a rhythm, Church said, that will always be a part of him.
    — Meg Bernhard, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2023
  • The herd does not always calve in the same area, but over the years has often favored the 1002 area just opened for oil extraction.
    — Ned Rozell, Anchorage Daily News, 13 Jan. 2018
  • The fjords of Prince Williams Sound echo like thunder as glaciers calve off into the sea at an ever increasing rate.
    — Todd Nelson, Star Tribune, 5 Apr. 2021
  • Every so often, snapping sounds and deep rumbles echoed up out of the frozen abyss, signaling that a chunk of ice was breaking off, or calving, from the glacier.
    — Denise Chow, NBC News, 17 Sep. 2019
  • The home side continued in fine fettle after the interval and calved out a number of half chances looking by far the more threatening side.
    — SI.com, 9 Feb. 2018
  • In the above video, a small calving event—where a piece of the iceberg breaks off the larger whole—triggers some sizable waves, although these waves do not threaten the shore.
    — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, 19 July 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'calve.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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