yelp
Americanverb (used without object)
-
yelps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
yelped,
past participle, past
-
yelping
present participle
-
to give a quick, sharp, shrill cry, as a dog or fox.
-
to call or cry out sharply.
The boy yelped in pain when the horse stepped on his foot.
verb (used with object)
-
yelps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
yelped,
past participle, past
-
yelping
present participle
noun
-
yelps
plural
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
yelpsimple
-
yelpssimple
-
have yelpedperfect
-
has yelpedperfect
-
am yelpingprogressive
-
are yelpingprogressive
-
is yelpingprogressive
-
have been yelpingperfect progressive
-
has been yelpingperfect progressive
Past
-
yelpedsimple
-
had yelpedperfect
-
was yelpingprogressive
-
were yelpingprogressive
-
had been yelpingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of yelp
before 900; (v.) Middle English yelpen, Old English gielpan to boast; cognate with Low German galpen to croak; (noun) Middle English: boasting, Old English gielp, derivative of the v.
Explanation
A yelp is a loud cry of pain, like what you’d hear after you step on a dog’s tail by accident. It was an accident, right? The root of yelp is the Old English word gielp, which means “boast.” Clearly the meaning has changed over time, since yelping is nothing to boast about, as it usually involves pain of some kind. The word works as a noun and a verb, so you could say “I can hear a dog yelping,” or “The dog’s yelps kept me up all night.” You could also pet your dog a lot, which will help with the yelps.
Vocabulary lists containing yelp
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It was now a cold, silent night, broken only by snores, the occasional yelp of someone dreaming, and the hoot of a single owl.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2025
But for that moment we sang together, a collective yelp of determination to keep dancing.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2024
Border Patrol vehicle, botanist Sula Vanderplank heard a quail in the scrub yelp “chi-ca-go,” a sound the birds use to signal they are separated from a mate or group.
From Seattle Times ● May 18, 2024
Immediately after throwing the pitch, he stepped off the back of the mound, appeared to yelp and took off his glove.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2023
I yelp as something furry scurries up my arm and jumps off my shoulder, running out of the cave.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
Saar yelps in an elevated octave before slipping them on … And not two seconds later kicking them off.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
This provoked yelps from technocrats who said it was impractical and superfluous.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 18, 2025
"Leave me alone, Daddy," she yelps in the cutest squeal.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2023
He laughs, jokes and yelps, as he does in performance, but can also be sober and introspective, liable to quote Schopenhauer or Borges in conversation.
From New York Times ● Jan. 2, 2023
Tarzan let out mighty yelps and swung from limb to limb on vines that looked suspiciously like ropes decorated with sweet-potato vines.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
She stood and yelped, then placed her hands to her left cheek in a purely American gesture, mimicking NBA star Steph Curry’s “Night, night.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2025
“Flippin’ champs?!” all-world quarterback Fernando Mendoza yelped, eyes wide.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 7, 2025
She yelped out and jumped up and down and attentively watched the speech.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 10, 2024
He yelped at the microphone as though it was about to attack him, then he lilted, eyes closed, like a crooner.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2023
Genie and Ernie both yelped at the same time.
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
As accustomed as we are to Tony Romo yelping over Jim Nantz at Arrowhead in late January, it may be time to start measuring the windows in a few new AFC cities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
However, the researchers also noted more signs of stress in the e-collar group, including yawning and, in some dogs, yelping.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2022
She did just in time, yelping and scrambling toward the wall before the ball fell a few feet from where she had been standing.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2022
The New York Times once described it as “shimmering and yelping and borderline whimsical,” and the song was nominated for a Grammy in 2016.
From New York Times ● Oct. 29, 2021
She was crying and yelping so hard as she drove that she missed the correct turnoff from the throughway.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
