pup
Americannoun
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pups
plural
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a young dog; puppy.
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the young of certain other animals, as the rat, shark, or fur seal.
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a small plant developing as an offshoot from a mature plant.
verb (used without object)
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pups,
present (3rd person singular)
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pupped,
past participle, past
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pupping
present participle
noun
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a young dog, esp when under one year of age; puppy
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the young of various other animals, such as the seal
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(of a bitch) pregnant
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informal a conceited young man (esp in the phrase young pup )
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to swindle someone by selling him something worthless
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slang it's early yet
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pupsimple
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pupssimple
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have puppedperfect
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has puppedperfect
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am puppingprogressive
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are puppingprogressive
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is puppingprogressive
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have been puppingperfect progressive
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has been puppingperfect progressive
Past
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puppedsimple
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had puppedperfect
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was puppingprogressive
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were puppingprogressive
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had been puppingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pup
First recorded in 1580–90; shortened variant of puppy
Explanation
Even though you probably think of a young, cuddly dog when you hear the word pup, a pup is the correct name for the young of many different mammals (even the not-so-cuddly porcupine!). When your dog has babies, they're pups, and the same is true of baby wolves. What's more surprising is that so are the baby anteaters in the zoo, as well as the offspring of sea lions, gerbils, and mongooses, among others. Sometimes this noun is also used to mean a young person who's particularly naive or arrogant. Pup comes from puppy, from the Middle French poupée, "doll."
Vocabulary lists containing pup
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:
Does your precious pup snap and yap at anything that moves?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
The arrival marks a milestone for the park, which last welcomed a single capybara pup four years ago.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
"The pup appeared grateful for the assistance," a police statement added.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
The pinniped pup looked around quizzically with large, black eyes before lumbering into the surf with abandon — as only the young can.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Hasty and her pup howled all the way to Charlotte.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
My son has been wanting to collect all the pups from the Paw Patrol movie ever since my husband and I took him to see it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
Miller is going to take some of those banana pups for her yard, and out front, she’ll plant a pollinator garden.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026
The bill signing comes as California’s gray wolves had at least 42 pups this year — a record.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
She said until this year, the trust had never recorded seal pups being born in every month of a calendar year, and believed climate change had influenced breeding patterns.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
The wolf pups were barking their excited yipoo that rang out the hour of the end of the hunt.
From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George
"Our dog is so good that the fox has pupped in our poultry house."
From A Wanderer in Venice by Harry Morley
A thought struck me: one of the many curs, which range wild throughout Tehran, had just pupped under a ruined archway, close to our house.
From The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan by James Morier
Let's see; how long have I been a-wearin' of that shirt; oh, I remember, I bought it jist two days afore Five Bob was pupped.
From While the Billy Boils by Henry Lawson
John Lang, Esq., deputy-sheriff of Selkirk, had a female cur big with pups, which on one occasion, when out in the fields attending the cattle, was taken in travail, and pupped on the moor.
From Anecdotes of Dogs by Edward Jesse
He rested again; then he continued: "That—that there dog was pupped on the track," he said, with a sad sort of a smile.
From While the Billy Boils by Henry Lawson
The sea lion breeding and pupping season is fast approaching at main rookeries such as the Channel Islands, according to Giancarlo Rulli, associate director of public relations for the Marine Mammal Center.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
"Although all of the cownose rays in Bermuda to date are females, we also observed small, immature rays suggesting pupping may have recently occurred here," said Ajemian.
From Science Daily ● May 20, 2024
"Unfortunately, it's a sample size of one. I think many scientists would agree that in order for us to consider this area of pupping location, we would need a lot more evidence."
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2024
This month the seals will begin another pupping season in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 23, 2024
Puerperal, or rather pupping fits, are treated of in their fitting place, and, if properly administered to, are by no means dangerous.
From The Dog by Dinks
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