whelp

[ welp, hwelp ]
See synonyms for whelp on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the young of a carnivore, as a dog, bear, lion, seal, etc.

  2. a youth, especially an impudent or despised one.

  1. Machinery.

    • any of a series of longitudinal projections or ridges on the barrel of a capstan, windlass, etc.

    • any of the teeth of a sprocket wheel.

verb (used with or without object)
  1. (of a female dog, lion, etc.) to give birth to (young).

Origin of whelp

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English noun, from Old English hwelp (cognate with Old Norse hvelpr, Old Saxon hwelp, Old High German hwelf, welf, German Welf); verb derivative of the noun

Other words for whelp

Other words from whelp

  • whelp·less, adjective
  • un·whelped, adjective

Words that may be confused with whelp

Words Nearby whelp

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use whelp in a sentence

  • This wretch, a shoemaker called Simon, asked his employers, "what was to be done with the young wolf-whelp; Was he to be slain?"

  • Brown Puppy and her whelp keep me company, and I look upon them as comrades in misfortune.

  • I had seen some whelp wolves that friends of ours (Harris and Leroy Lyman, who were noted hunters) had got.

    Fifty Years a Hunter and Trapper | Eldred Nathaniel Woodcock
  • Rome is strong, but Rome is far away, and that lion's whelp prowls only a few days journey from here.

    Snnica | Vicente Blasco Ibez
  • Gradually, bit by bit, James Harthouse established a confidence with the whelp's sister from which her husband was excluded.

    The World's Greatest Books, Vol III | Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton, Eds.

British Dictionary definitions for whelp

whelp

/ (wɛlp) /


noun
  1. a young offspring of certain animals, esp of a wolf or dog

  2. derogatory a young man or youth

  1. jocular a young child

  2. nautical any of the ridges, parallel to the axis, on the drum of a capstan to keep a rope, cable, or chain from slipping

verb
  1. (of an animal or, disparagingly, a woman) to give birth to (young)

Origin of whelp

1
Old English hwelp (a); related to Old High German hwelf, Old Norse hvelpr, Danish hvalp

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012