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Glite Dictionary
calves' liver

calves' liver

1 4.6
Meat from a young cow's liver that people eat
  • noun
  • /ˈkælvz ˈlɪvər/
translation icon : hígado de ternera
  • The restaurant's special tonight is calves' liver sautéed with onions and served with mashed potatoes.

Examples

  • He ordered calves' liver for dinner, enjoying its rich flavor and tenderness.

  • I felt the hit but paid no attention; in front of me was the perfect piece of calves liver on a delicate china plate, liver perfectly seared on the outside and pink rare.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • From Switzerland we have calves' liver.

    Green Card (1990)

  • Calves' liver.

    Ri¢hie Ri¢h (1994)

  • During our culinary tour in Italy, we sampled a classic dish of calves' liver drizzled with balsamic glaze.

Synonyms

liver
vscalves' liver
232 1.2

An animal organ eaten as food, often cooked and served

refers specifically to the organ from a young bovine rather than any animal
foie
vscalves' liver
23 8.8

Chefs use animal liver in French cooking

is the organ from a young bovine rather than a French culinary name
calf's liver
vscalves' liver
1 4.1

A piece of liver from a young cow eaten as tender, mild meat

is the same idea but often written in singular possessive form

Surface Forms

calves' liver singular
calves' livers plural

Morphology

calves' + liver

The phrase is a straightforward possessive noun phrase: 'calves'' (the plural possessive of calf, i.e. young cows) combined with 'liver' (an edible organ), so it literally means the liver of young cows used as food. This compositional pattern is common across languages and only involves a minor irregular plural form, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily understand it.

Etymology

Calves' liver is the liver from a young cow, a calf. Because this liver is softer and milder than an adult cow's, cooks used it in dishes, so the phrase means 'the liver of a young cow used as food'.