Whelp

/wɛlp/ · noun

Meaning

A young offspring of a various carnivores (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..

Definitions by Sense

1. A young offspring of a various carnivores (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.
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 and cog).
6. (ambitransitive, of she-dog, she-wolf, vixen, etc.) To give birth.
7. Alternative form of welp (“well”).

Example Sentences

[…]And fared like a furious wyld Beare, / Whose whelpes are ſtolne away, ſhe being otherwhere.

Pro. […]Then was this Iſland / (Saue for the Son, that he^([sic]) did littour heere, / A frekelld whelpe, hag-borne) not honour'd with / A humane ſhape.

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!

The bitch whelped.

The she-wolf whelped a large litter of cubs.

Synonyms for whelp

Antonyms for whelp

Related Words

Word Forms

• whelps
• whelping
• whelped

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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