yawp

or yaup

[ yawp, yahp ]

/ yɔp, yɑp /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR yawp ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to utter a loud, harsh cry; to yelp, squawk, or bawl.

Slang. to talk noisily and foolishly or complainingly.

noun

a harsh cry.

Slang.

raucous or querulous speech.
a noisy, foolish utterance.

RELATED WORDS

yelp, cry, gripe, yap, bawl, scream

Nearby words

Origin of yawp

1300–50; Middle English yolpen; akin to yelp

Related formsyawp·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for yawp

Students moan and growl and shriek and yawp, as if exorcising demons in a ritualistic ceremony.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
An' with that the consarn gin sech a yawp, it plumb went through my haid.
The Phantoms of the Foot-Bridge and Other Stories|Charles Egbert Craddock
They can yawp and chortle and call me Skyrider as if it was a joke.
Skyrider|B. M. Bower
Dont let me hear of you opening your yawp the way you did just now.
The Heart of Canyon Pass|Thomas K. Holmes

You'd keep that yawp o' your'n goin', I believe, if it was the judgment day.
David Harum|Edward Noyes Westcott
Now they have shut up their yawp about him, since he has proved to be no better than Talmage or Beecher.
Peck's Compendium of Fun|George W. Peck

British Dictionary definitions for yawp

yawp

/ (jɔːp) /

verb (intr)

to gape or yawn, esp audibly

to shout, cry, or talk noisily; bawl

to bark, yelp, or yowl

noun

a shout, bark, yelp, or cry

US and Canadian a noisy, foolish, or raucous utterance

Derived Formsyawper, noun

Word Origin for yawp

C15: yolpen, probably of imitative origin; see yap, yelp

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

Word Origin and History for yawp

yawp

c.1300, yolpen, probably echoic variant of yelpen (see yelp). Related: Yawped; yawping. The noun, in reference to speech, is recorded from 1835, now used chiefly with conscious echo of Whitman.