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whelp. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
whelp, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
whelp in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
whelp you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology 1
From Middle English whelp, from Old English hwelp, from Proto-West Germanic *hwelp, from Proto-Germanic *hwelpaz (compare Dutch welp, German Welpe, Welfe, Old Norse hvelpr, Norwegian Nynorsk kvelp, Danish hvalp), from pre-Germanic *kʷelbos, of uncertain origin.
Pronunciation
Noun
whelp (plural whelps)
- 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.
1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 4:Pro. […] Then was this Iſland / (Saue for the Son, that he did littour heere, / A frekelld whelpe, hag-borne) not honour'd with / A humane ſhape.
- (derogatory) An insolent youth; a mere child.
- July 13, 1713, Joseph Addison, The Guardian
- That awkward whelp with his money bags would have made his entrance.
- October 22, 2011, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, "Luna Eclipsed"
- Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!
- (obsolete) A kind of ship.
- One of several wooden strips to prevent wear on a windlass on a clipper-era ship.
- A tooth on a sprocket wheel (compare sprocket and cog).
Derived terms
Translations
young of a mammal
- Armenian: ձագ (hy) (jag)
- Bulgarian: кутре (bg) n (kutre)
- Catalan: cadell (ca) m
- Czech: štěně (cs) n, mládě (cs) n
- Danish: hvalp (da) c
- Esperanto: hundido (eo) (dog), lupido (wolf)
- Faroese: hvølpur m
- French: chiot (fr) m (dog), louveteau (fr) m (wolf), louvetelle f (wolf), petit (fr) m
- Galician: cachorro (gl) m
- German: Welpe (de) m, Welpin f
- Greek: σκύμνος (el) m (skýmnos)
- Ancient: σκύλαξ m or f (skúlax), σκύμνος m or f (skúmnos)
- Hebrew: גוּר (he) m (gur)
- Ido: hundyuno (io) (dog), volfyuno (io) (wolf)
- Latin: catulus, catellus
- Low German: Welp m, Wölp m, Wülp m
- Old English: hwelp m
- Portuguese: filhote (pt) m
- Romanian: cățel (ro) m (dog), lupan (ro) m (wolf)
- Russian: щено́к (ru) m (ščenók)
- Spanish: cachorro (es), caduelo, cadillo
- Swedish: valp (sv) c
- Turkish: enik (tr)
- Volapük: dogül (vo) (dog), lupül (wolf)
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See also
Etymology 2
From Middle English whelpen, from Old English hwelpian, derived from hwelp.
Verb
whelp (third-person singular simple present whelps, present participle whelping, simple past and past participle whelped)
- (transitive, intransitive, of she-dog, she-wolf, vixen, etc.) To give birth.
The bitch whelped.
The she-wolf whelped a large litter of cubs.
Translations
Etymology 3
Variant of welp.
Interjection
whelp
- Alternative form of welp (“well”)
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old English hwelp, from Proto-West Germanic *hwelp, from Proto-Germanic *hwelpaz.
Pronunciation
Noun
whelp (plural whelpes)
- A whelp (a puppy or a baby dog)
- A whelp (the young of other animals, especially canids and felids)
- A whelp (as an insulting term)
- (rare) An unknown kind of mechanical machine or system.
Related terms
Descendants
References