whelp

noun

1. A young offspring of a various carnivores (canid, ursid, felid, pinniped), especially of a dog or a wolf, the young of a bear or similar mammal (lion, tiger, seal); a pup, wolf cub.

   “[…]And fared like a furious wyld Beare, / Whose whelpes are ſtolne away, ſhe being otherwhere.”

   “Pro. […]Then was this Iſland / (Saue for the Son, that he^([sic]) did littour heere, / A frekelld whelpe, hag-borne) not honour'd with / A humane ſhape.”

2. (derogatory)An insolent youth; a mere child.

   “July 13, 1713, Joseph Addison, The Guardian That awkward whelp with his money bags would have made his entrance.”

   “October 22, 2011, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, "Luna Eclipsed" Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!”

3. (obsolete)A kind of ship.
4. One of several wooden strips to prevent wear on a windlass on a clipper-era ship.
5. A tooth on a sprocket wheel (compare sprocket and cog).

verb

1. (ambitransitive, usually)To give birth.

   “The bitch whelped.”

   “The she-wolf whelped a large litter of cubs.”

intj

1. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative form of welp (“well”).