Meaning & use
motherless calf
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A young cow or bull whose mother has died or is no longer with it.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a motherless calf' or 'three motherless calves'.
Patterns
- a motherless calf
- raise a motherless calf
- feed a motherless calf
The farmer found a motherless calf in the field and brought it to the barn.
Motherless calves need to be fed milk replacer several times a day.
She has hand-reared three motherless calves this spring.
Word forms
| plural | motherless calves |
|---|
Common combinations
- raise a motherless calf
- It takes patience to raise a motherless calf by hand.
- feed a motherless calf
- You must feed a motherless calf warm milk every few hours.
- a motherless calf needs care
- A motherless calf needs care around the clock.
- hand-rear a motherless calf
- They decided to hand-rear the motherless calf rather than sell it.
Synonyms and how they differ
- orphan calf
- This is more common in everyday speech and can also refer to a calf whose mother has abandoned it, not only one whose mother has died.
- bummer calf
- This is a regional, informal term used mainly in some parts of the US for a calf that has to be raised without its mother.
Word family
- motherless adjective
- Without a mother; used of people or animals.
- calf noun
- A young cow or bull, or the young of some other large mammals.
Commonly confused: motherless calf or calve?
motherless calf vs calve
Calve is a verb meaning 'to give birth to a calf', while calf is the noun for the young animal.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'motherless calf' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The passive 'was fed' is correct because the calf received the action. 'Was feeding' would mean the calf was doing the feeding, and 'was feed' and 'was feeds' are not grammatical verb forms.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “motherless calf”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.