What does "whelp" mean?
Whelp: 2. A child; a youth; -- jocosely or in contempt. That awkward whelp with his money bags would have made his entrance. Addison.
Additional senses
- 2.(Naut.) One of the longitudinal ribs or ridges on the barrel of a capstan or a windless; -- usually in the plural; as, the whelps of a windlass.
- 3.One of the teeth of a sprocket wheel.
- 4.To bring forth young; -- said of the female of the dog and some beasts of prey.
- 5.To bring forth, as cubs or young; to give birth to. Unless she had whelped it herself, she could not have loved a thing better. B. Jonson. Did thy foul fancy whelp so black a scheme Young.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00