whelp

 
Pronunciation: /wɛlp/

noun

chiefly archaic
  • 1a puppy.
  • a cub: let the lioness suckle her whelps
  • 2a boy or young man (often as a disparaging form of address): too high and mighty to call her ‘Mam’—isn’t that so, whelp?
  • 3 (whelps) Nautical a set of projections on the barrel of a capstan or windlass.

verb

[with object]
  • (of a female dog) give birth to (a puppy): Copper whelped seven puppies [no object]: a bitch due to whelp

Phrases

in whelp

(of a female dog) pregnant: busy time ahead if she is in whelp

Origin:

Old English hwelp (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch welp and German Welf