yelp

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɛlp/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlp

Etymology 1

From Middle English ȝelp, yelp, from Old English ġielp (“boasting, arrogance, pride”), from Proto-West Germanic *gelp, from Proto-Germanic *gelpą (“boasting”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel- (“to shout”).

Noun

yelp (plural yelps)

1. An abrupt, high-pitched noise or utterance.

   Synonym: yawp

   The puppy let out a yelp when I stepped on her tail.

   • 1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 522:

     “Before he was a twel’month ould he had a mouth full o’ great teeth; his hands wor like ’s claws, and his legs wor no thicker nor the handle of a whip, and about as straight as a rapin’ hook; to make the matther worse, he had the gut uv a cormorant, and the whinge, and the yelp, and the screech, and the yowl, was never out of his mouth.”

2. A type of emergency vehicle siren sounding quicker and more intense than the wail.

Translations

an abrupt, high-pitched noise or utterance

• Bulgarian: скимтене (bg) n (skimtene)
• Danish: hyl n
• Esperanto: jelpo
• Finnish: älähdys (fi), ulvahdus (fi), hihkaisu (fi)
• French: jappement (fr) m, couinement (fr) m
• Georgian: წივილი (c̣ivili), კივილი (ḳivili)
• Greek: γαβγίζω (el) (gavgízo)
• Hungarian: vakkantás (hu)
• Ido: aboyeto (io)
• Irish: sceamh f
• Italian: strillo (it) m
• Japanese: 悲鳴 (ja) (himei)
• Malay: dengking
• Māori: wēwē, ngawē
• Polish: pisk (pl) m, zawycie n, zaskomlenie n
• Portuguese: ganido (pt) m
• Russian: визг (ru) m (vizg), визжа́ние (ru) n (vizžánije)
• Scottish Gaelic: tathann m
• Spanish: aullido (es) m, trino (es) m, quejido (es) m

Etymology 2

From Middle English ȝelpen, yelpen, from Old English ġielpan (“to boast”), from Proto-West Germanic *gelpan, from Proto-Germanic *gelpaną (“to sound off, boast”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel‑ (“to call, shout, scream”).

Cognate with Saterland Frisian jalpe, galpe (“to bleep; cheep”), German Low German galpen (“to scream, shriek, howl”), Middle High German gelpfen, gelpfen (“to roar, howl, bark, boast, sing loudly”).

Verb

yelp (third-person singular simple present yelps, present participle yelping, simple past and past participle yelped)

1. To utter an abrupt, high-pitched noise.

   The children yelped with delight as they played in the cold water.

   • 1987, Gene Wolfe, chapter VI, in The Urth of the New Sun, 1st US edition, New York: Tor Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 38:

     I followed it as well as I could, I who have so often boasted of my memory now sniffing along for what seemed a league at least like a brachet and ready almost to yelp for joy at the thought of a place I knew, after so much emptiness, silence, and blackness.

Translations

to utter an abrupt, high-pitched noise

• Bulgarian: скимтя (bg) (skimtja)
• Czech: vyjeknout, zakňučet pf, zavýsknout pf
• Danish: hyle
• Esperanto: jelpi
• Finnish: älähtää (fi), ulvahtaa (fi), hihkaista (fi), (frequentative) hihkua
• French: japper (fr), couiner (fr)
• Galician: ganir, latir
• Georgian: წივილი (c̣ivili), კივილი (ḳivili)
• German: kreischen (de)
• Ido: aboyetar (io)
• Irish: sceamh
• Italian: strillare (it)
• Japanese: 悲鳴をあげる (himei o ageru)
• Latin: ganniō
• Māori: tūwē, tīwē, wēwē (of a dog)
• Polish: piszczeć (pl) impf, zapiszczeć pf, wyć (pl) impf, zawyć pf, skomleć (pl) impf, zaskomleć pf
• Portuguese: ganir (pt)
• Russian: визжа́ть (ru) impf (vizžátʹ)
• Sanskrit: बुक्कति (sa) (bukkati)
• Scottish Gaelic: tathainn
• Serbo-Croatian: cičati (sh)
• Spanish: gañir (es)
• Woiwurrung: warram boorboon

Anagrams

• Pyle

Middle English

Alternative forms

• ȝelp, ȝelpe
• gelp (Early Middle English); ȝælp, ȝealp, ȝeolp (Laȝamon's Brut)

Etymology

Inherited from Old English ġielp, ġylp, ġelp, from Proto-West Germanic *gelp, from Proto-Germanic *gelpą. Compare yelpen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɛlp/

Noun

yelp (uncountable)

1. Boasting, bragging; excessive vanity or self-aggrandisement.

Descendants

• English: yelp
• Middle Scots: ȝelp
  • Scots: yelp, yalp

References

• “yelp, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 26 September 2018.