Whelp

Origin

Old English hwelp 'pup, wolf cub', from Proto-Germanic *hwelpaz (compare Dutch welp, obsolete German Welf, Danish hvalp), from pre-Germanic *kʷelbos, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelbhos (compare Old Church Slavonic жрѣбѧ 'foal', Latin vulva, bolva, volba 'womb', Ancient Greek βρέφος 'fœtus, newborn', Hittite huēlpi 'overipe, fresh; newborn animal', Sanskrit उल्ब 'womb').

Full definition of whelp

Noun

1. A young offspring of a canid (ursid, felid, pinniped), especially of a dog or a wolf, the young of a bear or similar mammal (lion, tiger, seal); a pup, wolf cub.
2. (derogatory) An insolent youth; a mere child.
• AddisonThat awkward whelp with his money bags would have made his entrance.
3. (obsolete) A kind of ship.
4. One of several wooden strips to prevent wear on a windlass on a clipper-era ship.
5. A tooth on a sprocket wheel (compare sprocket, def. 2; cog, def. 1).

Derived terms

• fox whelp, fox-whelp, fox's whelp (foxling)
• Newfoundland whelping ice
• whelpling
• wolf whelp, wolf-whelp, wolf's whelp

Verb

1. (ambitransitive) (of she-dog, she-wolf, vixen, etc.) To give birth.The bitch whelped.The she-wolf whelped a large litter of cubs.