veal

1 of 2

noun

ˈvēl 

1

: the flesh of a young calf

2

: calf

especially : vealer

Illustration of veal

• A wholesale cuts
• 1 leg
• 2 loin
• 3 flank
• 4 rib
• 5 breast
• 6 shoulder
• 7 shank
• B retail cuts
• 1 hind shank
• 2 heel of round
• 3 round
• 4 rump roast
• 5 sirloin steak
• 6 loin chops
• 7 kidney chops
• 8 flank
• 9 breast
• 10 rib roast
• 11 blade steak
• 12 arm steak
• 13 shoulder roast
• 14 foreshank

veal

2 of 2

verb

vealed; vealing; veals

transitive verb

: to kill and dress (a calf) for veal

Examples of veal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Her must-orders include the crispy veal sweetbreads and the famous artichoke soup with black truffle and mushroom brioche. —Lauren Mowery, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025

In these large, slow-moving creatures, age may also have played a factor in the taste of their meat, in the same way that veal tastes different from other beef, or the way that lamb tastes different from mutton. —Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 8 Apr. 2025

Verb

Within that category, meats overall dropped 0.9% — with beef and veal down 2%, pork chops 1.1% cheaper and hot dogs falling 1.5%. —Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN, 12 Jan. 2022

April of last year, Ramirez introduced takeout, eschewing a tasting-menu model in favor of a la carte dishes like chicken soup with truffles and foie gras, and veal shank with fingerling potatoes. —Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 2 Nov. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English veel, borrowed from Anglo-French, "calf, veal," going back to Latin vitellus "small calf," diminutive of vitulus "calf"; akin to Greek hétalon "yearling," Old English wether "ram" — more at wether

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

circa 1901, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing veal

• bob veal

Rhymes for veal

• beal
• chiel
• ciel
• creel
• deal
• diel
• eel
• feel
• feil
• heal
• heel
• keel

Kids Definition

veal

noun

ˈvē(ə)l

: a young calf or its flesh for use as meat