whelp
Noun · VerbSynonyms:
pup
Open English WordNet
Noun (1)
- young of any of various canines such as a dog or wolfSynonyms: pupType of young mammalKinds puppy
Verb (1)whelped, whelping
- give birth to (a puppy)“the dog whelped”Synonyms: pupMore general give birth, deliver
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expediteverb
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Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Whelp noun
Origin: AS. hwelp; akin to D. welp, G. & OHG. welf, Icel. hvelpr, Dan. hvalp, Sw. valp.
1. One of the young of a dog or a beast of prey; a puppy; a cub; as, a lion's whelps. “A bear robbed of her whelps.” 2 Sam. xvii. 8.
2. A child; a youth; — jocosely or in contempt.
That awkward whelp with his money bags would have made his entrance.— Joseph Addison
3. Nautical One of the longitudinal ribs or ridges on the barrel of a capstan or a windless; — usually in the plural; as, the whelps of a windlass.
4. One of the teeth of a sprocket wheel.
Whelp intransitive verb [past tense & past participle Whelped; present participle & verbal noun Whelping.]
To bring forth young; — said of the female of the dog and some beasts of prey.
Whelp transitive verb
To bring forth, as cubs or young; to give birth to.
Unless she had whelped it herself, she could not have loved a thing better.— Ben Jonson
Did thy foul fancy whelp so black a scheme?— Edward Young
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54