whelp

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɛlp/
• (without the wine–whine merger) IPA^(key): /hwɛlp/
• Rhymes: -ɛlp
• Homophone: welp (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Noun

whelp (plural whelps)

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.
   • Addison

     That 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 and cog).

Verb

whelp (third-person singular simple present whelps, present participle whelping, simple past and past participle whelped)

1. (transitive, intransitive, of she-dog, she-wolf, vixen, etc.) To give birth.

   The bitch whelped.

   The she-wolf whelped a large litter of cubs.

Interjection

whelp

1. Alternative form of welp (“well”)