whelp

English

Etymology

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 (žrěbę) 'foal', Latin vulva, bolva, volba 'womb', Ancient Greek βρέφος (bréphos) 'fœtus, newborn', Hittite huēlpi 'overipe, fresh; newborn animal', Sanskrit उल्ब (úlba, úlva) 'womb').

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, 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

Translations

young of a mammal

• Armenian: ձագ (hy) (jag)
• French: chiot (fr) m (dog), louveteau (fr) m (wolf), louvetelle (fr) f (wolf) (Louvetelle, [1])
• German: Welpe (de) m, Welpin (de) f
• Greek: σκύμνος (el) (skímnos) m

• Ido: (♂♀) hundyuno (io) (dog), (♂) hundyunulo (io), (♀) hundyunino (io), (♂♀) volfyuno (io) (wolf), (♂) volfyunulo (io), (♀) volfyunino (io)
• Low German: Welp (nds) m, Wölp (nds) m, Wülp (nds) m
• Russian: щенок (ru) (ščenók) m
• Volapük: (♂♀) dogül (vo) (dog), (♂) hidogül (vo), (♀) jidogül (vo), (♂♀) lupül (vo) (wolf), (♂) hilupül (vo), (♀) jilupül (vo)

See also

• Guelf, Guelph
• Welf
• Welfe
• Welpe

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.

Translations

(animals) to give birth

• German: werfen (de), Junge werfen (de), jungen (de), wölfen (de)
• Hebrew: להמליט (he) (lehamlit)

• Russian: щениться (ru) (ščenítʼsja) n