whelp
/wɛlp/ · whelp
noun
- A young offspring of a dog, wolf, or other canid, and by extension of similar mammals such as bears, lions, or seals. The whelp yipped excitedly as the mother wolf nudged it toward the den.
- An insolent or mischievous child; a brat. Stop being such a whelp and clean up your mess.
- A small, lightly armed vessel, especially a sloop or cutter used in the 16th–17th centuries. The navy dispatched a whelp to scout the shallow waters of the harbor.
verb
- To give birth to whelps; to produce offspring, especially of a canine. The bitch will whelp her litter in the spring.
Did you know? In the age of sail, a 'whelp' was a term for a small, fast warship, a usage that survived in naval logs long after the animal sense became dominant.