Forms: 1 hwelp, (hwoelp, huoelp, hwealp, hwylp), 1, 4 welp, 3 hweolp, ȝwelp, (Orm.) whellp, wheollp, 3–7 whelpe, 4–5 welpe, 6 whelppe, 4– whelp; Sc. and north. 4 quelp(e, quilp(e, 4–7 quhelp(e, 5 qwelp(e, quhalp, quholp(e, 8–9 whalp. [OE. hwelp = OS. hwelp, (M)LG., (M)Du. welp, OHG. (h)welf (MHG., G. welf), ON. hvelpr (Sw. valp, Da. hvalp): further relations uncertain.]
1. The young of the dog. Now little used, superseded by puppy.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xv. 27. Soð hiu cweð ʓee drihten forðon & huoelpas brucas of screadungum ða ðe falles of bead hlaferda hiora.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., I. 368. Ʒyf þu on foreweardon sumera þiʓest hwylcne hwelpan þonne ʓyt unʓeseondne. Ibid., II. 172. Ʒif þu wille þæt wif cild hæbbe oþþe tife hwelp.
c. 1000. Ags. Voc., in Wright, Voc., 78. Catulus, hwylp.
c. 1205. Lay., 31679. Let þu þa hundes … eiðer freten oðer swa hund deð his broðer, and leten heore whelpes whæruen heom bi-sides.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxxiii. (George), 278. He folouyt hyre as it had bene Þe mekeste quhelpe wes euir sene.
c. 1430. Chev. Assigne, 61. Seuenne whelpes she sawe sowkynge þe damme.
1579. Gosson, Sch. Abuse (Arb.), 19. So must I disprayse his methode in writing, which following the course of amarous Poets, dwelleth longest in those pointes, that profite least; and like a wanton whelpe, leaueth the game, to runne riot.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, 139. That Whelpes … of one and the same Bitch, be neuer suffered to couple.
a. 1682. Sir T. Browne, Tracts, v. (1684), 119. I kept an Eagle two years, which fed upon Kats, Kittlings, Whelps and Ratts.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 37, ¶ 2. Trips, a Whelp just set in.
1765. Goldsm., Elegy on Mad Dog, iv. Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound.
1816. Scott, Lett. to Terry, 18 April, in Lockhart. His whole pack rushed out upon the man of execution, and Dandie followed them … exclaiming, ‘the tae hauf o’ them is but whalps, man.’
1859. Geo. Eliot, Adam Bede, I. v. I want to call at the Hall Farm on my way, to look at the whelps Poyser is keeping for me.
1894. Kipling, The ‘Mary Gloster,’ Verse 1919, I. 175. Mean as a collier’s whelp Nosing for scraps in the galley.
b. † (Great) with whelp, now in whelp: (of a bitch) pregnant, in pup.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVIII. xxv. (Bodl. MS.), lf. 260 b/2. Þe bitche goþ wiþ whelpe in here wombe iiijll daies.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 203. Thy bytch great with whelpe.
1634. Brereton, Trav. (Chetham Soc.), 37. A bitch in whelp.
1887. Field, 19 Feb., 227/2. All the bitches that missed last year have this season got in whelp, and mostly to the same dogs.
2. The young of various wild animals, esp. and now only (chiefly as a literary archaism) of such as the lion, tiger, bear, and wolf, to the young of which the name cub is now usually applied.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter, xvi[i]. 12. Swe swe hwelp leon eardiende in deʓulnissum.
a. 1050. Liber Scintill., xxiv. (1889), 95. Raptis foetibus, ʓegripenum hwealpum.
c. 1200. Ormin, 5838. Forr leness whellp þær þær itt iss Whellpedd, tær liþ itt stille Þre daȝhess.
c. 1290. St. Edmund, 72, in S. Eng. Leg., 299. And riȝt ase he [sc. a wolf] wolde is owene ȝwelp with wilde bestes it wuste.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 7103. A lion quilpe þat ran ouerthuert, Rampand to sampson he stert.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Sqr.’s T., 491. As by the whelpe chasted is the leon.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XII. xxvi. (Bodl. MS.), lf. 137 b/1. [The whale] loueþ his whelpes with a wonder loue.
c. 1440. Alphabet of Tales, 307. Þer was wulfe-whelpis þerin. Ibid., 478. Þe propurtie of þe ape is to hare ij whelpis.
c. 1440. Gesta Rom., lix. 243 (Harl. MS.). We haue longe tyme fedde þere with þe serpente & hir whelpes.
a. 1578. Lindesay (Pitscottie), Chron. Scot. (S. T. S.), II. 302. Ane kow of Sauchie that calffit xxv grew quholpis.
1677. N. Cox, Gentl. Recreat., I. (ed. 2), 134. When the she-Bear perceiveth her self with whelp, she withdraws her self into some Cave.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), III. 233. To let the lioness suckle her own whelps.
1825. J. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, III. 265. The whelp of a bitch-catamount.
1859. Darwin, Orig. Spec., xiii. 439. Stripes can be plainly distinguished in the whelp of the lion.
1870. Bryant, Iliad, XVII. 161. Firm as stands A lion o’er his whelps.
b. transf. A young child; a boy or girl. Now only jocular.
1430–40. Lydg., Bochas, V. xxii. (1554), 137 b/1. Father (quod she) and ye take hede, A whelpe I had.
1483. Caxton, Gold. Leg., 265/1. Thou arte moder of a right noble whelp.
1573–80. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 185. Not rod in mad braines hand is that can helpe, But gentle skill doth make the proper whelpe.
1591. Moryson, Lett., in Itin. (1617), I. 14. Imbrace in my name our common friend G. B. and of my loving hosts family let not a whelpe goe unsaluted.
c. 1591. Rob Stene’s Dream (Maitl. Club), 5. Bot ȝe sowld cheifly mene his caice, To quhalpis ar of his nobill raice.
1852. Kingsley, Lett., in Life, x. (1879), I. 273. My little whelp Maurice.
c. fig. (from 1 or 2) with literal language retained, often with implication as in 3.
Lion’s whelp is used allusively, partly after Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., III. iii. 167, Hen. V. I. ii. 109, for ‘a valorous youth sprung from a valorous race.’
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 200. Þe Unicorne of Wreððe … haueð six hweolpes. Þe uormest is Cheaste, oðer Strif.
13[?]. Sir Beues (A.), 1733. ‘A-ȝilt þe,’ a seide, ‘þow fox welp.’
c. 1450. Cov. Myst., v. (Shaks. Soc.), 51. And save thi servaunt from helle qwelp.
1588. Shaks., Tit. A., II. iii. 281. Two of thy whelpes, fell Curs of bloody kind Haue heere bereft my brother of his life.
1596–7. Min. Archd. Colchester (MS.), lf. 147. Calling them [sc. neighbours] doggs, slye whelpes, and that they might have barked before they had bitt.
1631. A. Wilson, Swisser, II. i. And ther’s a whelp [points at Alcidonus] wo’d haue a Marybone.
1663. Cowley, Cutter Coleman St., IV. vi. This bouncing Bear of a Colonel will break the Back of my little Whelp of a Captain.
1831. G. P. R. James, Philip Aug., xxvii. You were but a whelp, where you are now a lion!
1922. Times Lit. Suppl., 23 Feb., 123/1. A time when young Englishmen were just as formidable lion’s whelps as they are to-day.
3. a. Applied depreciatingly to the offspring of a noxions creature or being. (Cf. son of a bitch.)
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1725), 281. Cambinhoy beres him coy, þat fendes whelp.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, lvi. 5. Warldis lufers þat ere the whelpis of deuels.
1560. Becon, New Catech., Wks. (1564), I. 497. Those whelpes of Rome.
1580. H. Gifford, Gilloflowers (1875), 6. I would … liken all such whelpes of Zoilus, to that … canckerly naturde curre.
1590. Greene, Mourn. Garm. (1616), C 2. Use not dice, for they be fortunes whelpes.
1610. Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 283. The Son, that she did littour heere, A frekelld whelpe, hag-borne.
1634. Canne, Necess. Separ., 105. Their vngracious Bishops, these whelpes of Antichrist.
b. An ill-conditioned or low fellow; later, in milder use, and esp. of a boy or young man: A saucy or impertinent young fellow; an ‘unlicked cub,’ a ‘puppy.’ Also attrib.
c. 1330. Arth. & Merl., 4516. Him to helpe, To fiȝt oȝain þe Sarrazin welpe.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., xii. 426. Thou art an yll qwelp ffor angre.
1611. B. Jonson, Catiline, I. i. Let me but finde you againe with such a face: You Whelpe.
1710. Brit. Apollo, III. No. 20. 3/2. He’s … a Silly Whelp.
1711. Swift, Lett. (1767), III. 161. Sir Thomas Mansel and Tom Harley met me in the Park, and made me walk with them till nine, like unreasonable whelps.
1741. Richardson, Pamela (1824), I. 11. When she was beginning to complain of the whelp lord’s impertinence.
1768. Goldsm., Good-n. Man, II. i. Stupid whelp! But I don’t wonder: the boy takes entirely after his mother.
1809. Scott, Lett., 7 Aug. in Lockhart. It is funny enough to see a whelp of a young Lord Byron abusing me.
1823. ‘Jon Bee,’ Dict. Turf, 192. Whelp, a boy with dog’s-tricks.
1834. Marryat, Peter Simple, iii. Bad company, you whelp!
1866. Miss Braddon, Lady’s Mile, i. The shabby whelp gambling for marbles in the gutter.
1888. Sat. Rev., 20 Oct., 458/1. These whelps have been before the magistrates charged on their own confession with murder.
4. Naut. One of the longitudinal projections on the barrel of a capstan or the drum of a windlass.
The object designated in the first quot. is uncertain.
1356. in Pipe Roll 32 Edw. III., m. 34/1. Idem computat expendisse … in factura .iij. Whelpes .j. grossi Wynche … c. lb.
a. 1625. Nomenclator Navalis (Harl. MS. 2301). The Whelps are like Brackettes, sett to the bodie or the Capstaine close vnder the Barrs, downe to the Decke, and are theie which giue the Sweepe to the Capstaine. Theis are made soe in partes that the Cabell maie not be so apt to surge, as it would if it did run vpon a whole round bodie.
1627. Capt. J. Smith, Sea Gram., ii. 8. The Whelps are short peeces of wood made fast to it, to keepe the Cable from coming too high in the turning about.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1776), s.v. Capstern.
1847. Key, Recov. H.M.S. Gorgon, 19. The space between which had been filled up with wood, like the whelps of a capstan.
b. One of the teeth of a sprocket-wheel (Knight, Dict. Mech., 1875).
† 5. Naut. One of a feet of auxiliary war vessels established in Charles I.’s reign, app. orig. so called because designed to attend upon H.M.S. Lion. Obs.
1628–9. Cal. St. Papers, Dom. (1859), 455. [When she [sc. a small man-of-war] heard] our Whelps bark so loud and saucy, and saw them put up the King’s colours, [she endeavoured to escape].
1631. Sir J. Pennington, Jrnl., in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. IV. 276. Our whole fleete being 4 sayle in all, vizt the Convertive, Admirall, the Assurance, Vize Admirall, the Tenth Whelpe, and the Second Whelpe.
1634. Brereton, Trav. (Chetham Soc.), 158. Here we saw the 9th Whelp lying at anchor, to guard the fleet which now is ready to go hence to Bristoll fair.
1641. Prynne, Disc. Prel. Tyrr., ii. 135. Being imbarqued … in one of the Kinges Whelpes,… he landed at Dover.
1660. Burney, Κέρδ. Δῶρον, 53. When he visits the Navy, and even boards the Whelps and Frigots.
1894. C. N. Robinson, Brit. Fleet, 227. A class of smaller craft, each of 185 tons, was decided on. They were called ‘whelps,’ and were vessels built for sweeps as well as sails.
6. Comb., as whelp-robbed adj.
1627. May, Lucan, V. H 8 b. Swifter then whelpe-robb’d Tyger.
Hence Whelphood, the condition of being a whelp; Whelpish a., of, resembling, or characteristic of a whelp; Whelpless a., having no whelps, deprived of whelps; † Whelplich [-LY2] adv., like a whelp; Whelpling, a young whelp; also contemptuously of a person.
1877. Preston Chron., 1 Dec., 5/1. Keeping them [dogs] up or muzzled from *whelphood to dim-eyed decrepitude.
1886. Swinburne, Misc., 211. A vapid and effeminate rhymester in the sickly stage of whelphood.
1586. Whitney, Choice Emblems, 49. Though *whelpishe daies, his nature did disguise Yet time at length vnto my euell lucke Bewray’de his harte.
1687. Miége, Gt. Fr. Dict., Whelpish, mechant, mauvais.
1711. G. Cary, Phys. Phylactic, 334. You mightily hugged this whelpish Thought.
1883. J. Christie, in Mod. Scott. Poets, Ser. VI. 263. Thou gar’d the rocks and hallows ring Wi’ whalpish glee.
1598. Yong, Diana, 9. Angry more then *whelplesse Beare.
1814. Byron, Lara, II. xxv. Her eye shot forth with all the living fire That haunts the tigress in her whelpless ire.
1847. Tennyson, Princess, VI. 83. The old lion, glaring with his whelpless eye.
c. 1400. Beryn, 481. He … scrapid the dorr *welplich.
a. 1618. Sylvester, Profit of Imprisonment, Wks. (1621), 625. As, when the Lion fierce … Runnes midst a million swords, his *whelplings to defend.
1782. Elphinston, Martial, XII. clxxi. [I. lxxxiii.] 460. On thy lov’d lips, the whelpling lambent hung.
1889. Farrar, Lives of Fathers, I. v. 222. That whelpling [L. canicula] Diogenes sought to find a man.
