Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Whelp

Whelp , noun

[Anglo-Saxon hwelp; akin to Dutch welp, German & Old High German welf, Icelandic hvelpr, Danish hvalp, Swedish valp.]

1.
One of the young of a dog or a beast of prey; a puppy; a cub; as, a lion's whelps.
A bear robbed of her whelps. — 2 Sam. xvii. 8
2.
A child; a youth; -- jocosely or in contempt.
That awkward whelp with his money bags would have made his entrance. — Addison
3.
(Nautical) One of the longitudinal ribs or ridges on the barrel of a capstan or a windless; -- usually in the plural; as, the whelps of a windlass.
4.
One of the teeth of a sprocket wheel.

Whelp , intransitive verb

To bring forth young; -- said of the female of the dog and some beasts of prey.

Whelp , transitive verb

To bring forth, as cubs or young; to give birth to.
Unless she had whelped it herself, she could not have loved a thing better. — B. Jonson
Did thy foul fancy whelp so black a scheme? — Young