n. [akin to kvef, kóf, kæfa (q. v.), dropping the v]:—a plunge into water, a dive, diving; fær hann þá annat kaf at öðru, one dive after another, Fb. ii. 215; á kaf and í kaf, into water, under water; hlaupa á kaf. to plunge into water, dive, Fs. 48, Eg. 123, Fms. vi. 318, vii. 224, passim; sigla skip í kaf, ii. 64; fara í kaf, to go under water, duck, Bs. i. 355: as also of land covered with water or flooded, or even covered with snow, passim; falla í kaf, færask ymsir í kaf, they ducked one another, Fb. ii. 215; á kafi and í kafi, under water, diving, swimming, Bs. i. 355, Eg. 387, Fms. iii. 4, vii. 232, xi. 383, Grág. ii. 309: of snow, lágu hestarnir á kafi í snjónum svá at draga varð upp, Eg. 546: also metaph., standa á kafi, to sink deep, so as to be hidden, of a weapon in a wound; öxin stóð á kafi, Fms. vi. 424; kom annat hornit á kviðinn, svá at þegar stóð á kafi, Eb. 326: opp. to these phrases is, koma upp úr kafi, to emerge, Stj. 75; enda, hætta í miðju kafi, to end or break off abruptly (in mediis rebus), metaphor from swimming: plur. köf, gasping for breath, Bjarni 142, (and-köf, choked breath.)

2. poët. the deep; kafs hestr, the horse of the deep, a ship, Sighvat; kaf-sunna, the sun of the deep = gold, Eb. (in a verse).

COMPDS: kafafjúk, kafahríð.