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🐶 A young puppy 🐶 To give birth
to whelp

to whelp

1 9.3
To give birth to young dogs or foxes
  • verb
  • /wɛlp/
translation icon : parir
  • After a long wait, she finally whelped her first litter last night.

And the dog just literally, literally lay on the floor and started whelping, whelping on its back, just freaked out.

Examples

  • Their breath steamed in the frigid air. "The mother whelped," she said.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The wolf had not whelped.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • THE DEAD MARSHES - DAY: Gollum whelps and cowers as the Ringwraith swoops over their hiding place.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • The mother dog will whelp a litter of puppies in the spring.

  • During the process of whelping, the female dog needs a quiet place to give birth.

Synonyms

to pup
vsto whelp
3 7.9

To give birth to baby dogs

is narrower, applying mainly to carnivorous mammals and their young
to pupping
vsto whelp
  • Specialized
7.2

To give birth to puppies or young animals like seals

is narrower, used mainly for carnivorous mammals and their young

Antonyms

to abort
  • Specialized
47 7.1

To end a pregnancy by a medical procedure

Surface Forms

whelp infinitive
whelped past
whelped past participle
whelping present participle
whelps third person singular

Etymology

The verb whelp comes from the same old German word hwelp meaning 'young dog'. That's why to whelp is to 'give birth to' puppies.