a young cow, esp. one that has not yet borne a calf
Origin of heifer
Middle English haifre from Old English heahfore, literally , full-grown young ox from heah, high, hence full-grown (see high) + fearr, bull, literally , young animal: see farrow
A young black and white heifer.
The definition of a heifer is a young female cow that hasn't given birth to a calf.
A nine month old female cow with no offspring is an example of a heifer.
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"heifer." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Heifer>.
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heifer. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Heifer
heifer
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"heifer." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Heifer>.
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heifer. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Heifer
heifer
noun
A young cow, especially one that has not yet given birth to a calf.
Origin of heifer
Middle English from Old English hēahfore ; see perə-1 in Indo-European roots.THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"heifer." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Heifer>.
APA Style
heifer. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Heifer
Noun
(plural heifers)
- A young female bovine (cow) that has not yet had a calf.
- 1611 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke — Numbers 19:1-2 KJV
- (slang) An ugly or objectionable woman; a cow.
Origin
Middle English hayfare, hayfre, from Old English heahfore, hēahfre, compound of (1) *heag- (“mating”) (compare dialectal German Hagen, Hegel (“breeding bull”), Middle Dutch haechdroese (“genitals”), Old English hagan (“id.”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱak- (“to be able, help”) (compare Sanskrit [script?] (śaknóti, “to be able”), Avestan [script?] (sak-, “to agree”)) and (2) -fore (compare English elver, fieldfare, Old English sceolfor (“cormorant”)).
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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MLA Style
"heifer." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Heifer>.
APA Style
heifer. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Heifer
Sentence Examples
- Between this precinct and the Propylaea were a number of statues, among them the celebrated heifer of Myron, and perhaps his Erechtheus; the Lemnian Athena of Pheidias, and his effigy of his friend Pericles.