Pronunciations (3)
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/wɛlp/
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/ʍɛlp/
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wɛlp
Noun
A young offspring of a various carnivores (canid, ursid, felid, pinniped), especially of a dog or a wolf, the young of a bear or similar mammal (lion, tiger, seal); a pup, wolf cub.
- Examples
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[…]And fared like a furious wyld Beare, / Whose whelpes are ſtolne away, ſhe being otherwhere.
Pro. […]Then was this Iſland / (Saue for the Son, that he^([sic]) did littour heere, / A frekelld whelpe, hag-borne) not honour'd with / A humane ſhape.
An insolent youth; a mere child.
Usage- Derogatory
- Examples
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July 13, 1713, Joseph Addison, The Guardian That awkward whelp with his money bags would have made his entrance.
October 22, 2011, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, "Luna Eclipsed" Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!
A kind of ship.
Usage- Obsolete
One of several wooden strips to prevent wear on a windlass on a clipper-era ship.
A tooth on a sprocket wheel (compare sprocket and cog).
Verb
To give birth.
Usage- Transitive or intransitive
- usually
- of she-dog
- Examples
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The bitch whelped.
The she-wolf whelped a large litter of cubs.
Noun
young of any of various canines such as a dog or wolf
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
Verb
give birth to (a puppy)
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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the dog whelped