See Also: whelp(medicine)
whelp(1)(dictionary)
whelp(2)(dictionary)
whelp 1, noun(dictionary)
whelp 2, verb(dictionary)

whelp(1) (iou)



whelp noun1 & verb.
[Old English hwelp = Old Saxon hwelp (Dutch welp), Old High German hwelf, (also mod.) welf, Old Norse hvelpr, from a Germanic word of which no cognates are known.]
A. noun.
A young dog; a puppy. OE.
A young wolf, lion, tiger, bear, etc.; a cub. arch. OE.
b. transf. A young child. Now joc. L15.
a. An offspring of a monstrous or evil being. arch. ME.
b. Orig., a contemptible person. Later, an ill-mannered child or youth. ME.
G. B. Shaw This unmannerly young whelp Chubbs-Jenkinson.
Nautical. Any of the longitudinal projections on the barrel of a capstan or the drum of a windlass. Usu. in pl. LME.
Nautical. [After use as support for HMS Lion.] An auxiliary war vessel established in Charles I's reign. Long obsolete exc. Hist. E17.
Phrases: in whelp (of a female animal) pregnant.
b. verb.
verb trans. & intrans. Of a female animal or (derog.) a woman: give birth (to). ME.
Time A child-woman of the '60s who whelps children out of wedlock. Daily Telegraph Bitches that whelp in quarantine over here. Greyhound Star Candy Floss has whelped a litter of..three dogs and two bitches.
transf. & fig. Bring forth; originate (an evil scheme etc.). L16.
W. Cowper Having whelped a prologue with great pains.
whelphood noun the condition of being a whelp; the time during which an animal is a whelp: M19.
whelpish adjective L16.
whelpless adjective L16.
whelpling noun a whelp, esp. a little or young whelp E17.