| 释义 |
▪ I. whelp, n.1|hwɛlp|
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 Now little used, superseded by puppy.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xv. 27 Soð hiu cweð ᵹee drihten forðon & huoelpas brucas of screadungum ða ðe falles of bead hlaferda hiora. c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 368 Ᵹyf þu on foreweardon sumera þiᵹest hwylcne hwelpan þonne ᵹyt unᵹeseondne. Ibid. II. 172 Ᵹif þu wille þæt wif cild hæbbe oþþe tife hwelp. c1000Ags. Voc. in Wright Voc. 78 Catulus, hwylp. c1205Lay. 31679 Let þu þa hundes..eiðer freten oðer swa hund deð his broðer, and leten heore whelpes whæruen heom bi-sides. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxxiii. (George) 278 He folouyt hyre as it had bene Þe mekeste quhelpe wes euir sene. c1430Chev. Assigne 61 Seuenne whelpes she sawe sowkynge þe damme. 1579Gosson 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. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 139 That Whelpes..of one and the same Bitch, be neuer suffered to couple. a1682Sir T. Browne Tracts v. (1684) 119, I kept an Eagle two years, which fed upon Kats, Kittlings, Whelps and Ratts. 1709Steele Tatler No. 37 ⁋2 Trips, a Whelp just set in. 1765Goldsm. Elegy Mad Dog iv, Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound. 1816Scott Let. to Terry 18 Apr. 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.’ 1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede i. v, I want to call at the Hall Farm on my way, to look at the whelps Poyser is keeping for me. 1894Kipling 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.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xxv. (Bodl. MS.) lf. 260 b/2 Þe bitche goþ wiþ whelpe in here wombe iiijxx daies. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 203 Thy bytch great with whelpe. 1634Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 37 A bitch in whelp. 1887Field 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.
c825Vesp. Psalter xvi[i]. 12 Swe swe hwelp leon eardiende in deᵹulnissum. a1050Liber Scintill. xxiv. (1889) 95 Raptis foetibus, ᵹegripenum hwealpum. c1200Ormin 5838 Forr leness whellp þær þær itt iss Whellpedd, tær liþ itt stille Þre daȝhess. c1290St. Edmund 72 in S. Eng. Leg. 299 And riȝt ase he [sc. a wolf] wolde is owene ȝwelp with wilde bestes it wuste. a1300Cursor M. 7103 A lion quilpe þat ran ouer⁓thuert, Rampand to sampson he stert. c1386Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 491 As by the whelpe chasted is the leon. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiii. xxvi. (Bodl. MS.) lf. 137 b/1 [The whale] loueþ his whelpes with a wonder loue. c1440Alphabet of Tales 307 Þer was wulfe-whelpis þerin. Ibid. 478 Þe propurtie of þe ape is to hafe ij whelpis. c1440Gesta Rom. lix. 243 (Harl. MS.) We haue longe tyme fedde þere with þe serpente & hir whelpes. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 302 Ane kow of Sauchie that calffit xxv grew quholpis. 1677N. Cox Gentl. Recr. i. (ed. 2) 134 When the she-Bear perceiveth her self with whelp, she withdraws her self into some Cave. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 233 To let the lioness suckle her own whelps. 1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan III. 265 The whelp of a bitch-catamount. 1859Darwin Orig. Spec. xiii. 439 Stripes can be plainly distinguished in the whelp of the lion. 1870Bryant Iliad xvii. 161 Firm as stands A lion o'er his whelps.
b. transf. A young child; a boy or girl. Now only jocular.
1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 265/1 Thou arte moder of a right noble whelp. 1573–80Tusser Husb. (1878) 185 Not rod in mad braines hand is that can helpe, But gentle skill doth make the proper whelpe. 1591Moryson Let 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. c1591Rob Stene's Dream (Maitl. Club) 5 Bot ȝe sowld cheifly mene his caice, To quhalpis ar of his nobill raice. 1852Kingsley Let. in Life x. (1879) I. 273, I and my gardener George, and my little whelp Maurice and Dandy, Went out this afternoon fishing.
c. fig. (from 1 or 2) with literal language retained, often with implication as in 3.
lion's whelp is used allusively, partly after Shakes. 1 Hen. IV. iii. iii. 167, Hen. V. i. ii. 109, for ‘a valorous youth sprung from a valorous race’.
a1225Ancr. 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.’ c1450Cov. Myst. v. (Shaks. Soc.) 51 And save thi servaunt from helle qwelp. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 281 Two of thy whelpes, fell Curs of bloody kind Haue heere bereft my brother of his life. 1596–7Min. Archd. Colchester (MS.) lf. 147 Calling them [sc. neighbours] doggs, slye whelpes, and that they might have barked before they had bitt. 1631A. Wilson Swisser ii. i, And ther's a whelp [points at Alcidonus] wo'd haue a Marybone. 1663Cowley Cutter Coleman St. iv. vi, This bouncing Bear of a Colonel will break the Back of my little Whelp of a Captain. 1831James Phil. Augustus xxvii, You were but a whelp, where you are now a lion! 1922Times 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 noxious creature or being. (Cf. son of a bitch.)
1338R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 281 Cambinhoy beres him coy, þat fendes whelp. a1340Hampole Psalter lvi. 5 Warldis lufers þat ere the whelpis of deuels. 1560Becon New Catech. Wks. (1564) I. 497 Those whelpes of Rome. 1580H. Gifford Gilloflowers (1875) 6, I would..liken all such whelpes of Zoilus, to that..canckerly naturde curre. 1590Greene Mourn. Garm. (1616) C 2, Use not dice, for they be fortunes whelpes. 1610Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 283 The Son, that she did littour heere, A frekelld whelpe, hag⁓borne. 1634Canne 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.
c1330Arth. & Merl. 4516 Him to helpe, To fiȝt oȝain þe Sarrazin welpe. c1460Towneley Myst. xii. 426 Thou art an yll qwelp ffor angre. 1611B. Jonson Catiline i. i, Let me but finde you againe with such a face: You Whelpe. 1710Brit. Apollo III. No. 20. 3/2 He's..a Silly Whelp. 1711Swift 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. 1741Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 11 When she was beginning to complain of the whelp lord's impertinence. 1768Goldsm. Good-n. Man ii. i, Stupid whelp! But I don't wonder: the boy takes entirely after his mother. 1809Scott Let. 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. 1834Marryat Peter Simple iii, Bad company, you whelp! 1866M. E. Braddon Lady's Mile i, The shabby whelp gambling for marbles in the gutter. 1888Sat. 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.
1356in Pipe Roll 32 Edw. III m. 34/1 Idem computat expendisse..in factura .iij. Whelpes .j. grossi Wynche..c. lb. a1625Nomenclator Navalis (Harl. MS. 2301), The Whelps are like Brackettes, sett to the bodie of 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. 1627Capt. 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. 1769Falconer 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 fleet of auxiliary war vessels established in Charles I's reign, app. orig. so called because designed to attend upon H.M.S. Lion. Obs.
1628–9Cal. 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]. 1631Sir 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. 1634Brereton 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. 1641Prynne Disc. Prel. Tyrr. ii. 135 Being imbarqued..in one of the Kinges Whelpes,..he landed at Dover. 1660Burney κέρδ. Δῶρον 53 When he visits the Navy, and even boards the Whelps and Frigots. 1894C. 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.
1627May Lucan v. H 8 b, Swifter then whelpe-robb'd Tyger.
Hence ˈwhelphood, the condition of being a whelp; ˈwhelpish a., of, resembling, or characteristic of a whelp; ˈwhelpless a., having no whelps, deprived of whelps; † ˈwhelplich [-ly2] adv., like a whelp; ˈwhelpling, a young whelp; also contemptuously of a person.
1847E. Brontë Wuthering Heights I. xiii. 325 It [sc. a dog] had spent its *whelphood at the Grange. 1886Swinburne Misc. 211 A vapid and effeminate rhymester in the sickly stage of whelphood.
1586Whitney Choice Emblems 49 Though *whelpishe daies, his nature did disguise Yet time at length vnto my euell lucke Bewray'de his harte. 1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict., Whelpish, mechant, mauvais. 1711G. Cary Phys. Phylactic 334 You mightily hugged this whelpish Thought. 1883J. Christie in Mod. Scott. Poets Ser. vi. 263 Thou gar'd the rocks and hallows ring Wi' whalpish glee.
1598Yong Diana 9 Angry more then *whelplesse Beare. 1814Byron Lara ii. xxv, Her eye shot forth with all the living fire That haunts the tigress in her whelpless ire. 1847Tennyson Princess vi. 83 The old lion, glaring with his whelpless eye.
c1400Beryn 481 He..scrapid the dorr *welplich.
a1618Sylvester Profit of Imprisonment Wks. (1621) 625 As, when the Lion fierce..Runnes midst a million swords, his *whelplings to defend. 1782J. Elphinston Martial xii. clxxi. [i. lxxxiii.] 460 On thy lov'd lips, the whelpling lambent hung. 1889Farrar Lives of Fathers I. v. 222 That whelpling [L. canicula] Diogenes sought to find a man.
▪ II. whelp, n.2
Erron. for welt n.1
1912in Dialect Notes III. 593 She whipped the horse till she raised great whelps on him. 1952Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xvii. 34 Time was in the upcountry when the teacher would, with a hickory, raise whelps on the legs of a recalcitrant pupil. 1962W. Faulkner Reivers viii. 181 How the hell did Sugar Boy ever let him get this far without at least one whelp on him? 1980Verbatim Autumn 17/2 A quite common mispronunciation is ‘whelp’ for ‘welt’: ‘He has some big whelps on his arm.’
▪ III. whelp, v.|hwɛlp|
[f. whelp n.1]
1. trans. To bring forth (a whelp or whelps).
c1200Ormin 6029 Þatt deor Þatt wass i leoness like, Þatt riseþþ o þe þridde daȝȝ Affterr þatt itt iss wheollpedd. a1225Ancr. R. 200 Monie mo hweolpes þen ich habbe inempned haueð þe Liun of Prude ihweolped. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. i. (Bodl. MS.) lf. 241 b/2 Þe female wolfe whelpiþ manye whelpes as þe bitche doþe. 1493Festivall (W. de W. 1515) 145 Whan a lyon hath yonge whelpes they shall lye as deed thre dayes after yt they ben whelped. 1577Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. 155 b, As soone as they be Whelped, cast away such as you mislike. 1677N. Cox Gentl. Recr. i. (ed. 2) 135 [Bears] are whelped most commonly in March, sometimes two, and not above five in number. 1731Gentl. Mag. Aug. 352/2 A Litter of young Lions was whelped at the Tower, from a Lioness and Lion whelp'd there 6 years before. 1775Phil. Trans. LXVI. 103 They all come on shore in December, to whelp their young. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. iii, Jack's the dog as can draw a brock..agin any Lonnun dog as ever was whelped. 1892Brit. Fancier 19 Feb. 71/2 His bitch Dainty..has just whelped a..fine litter to Mrs. Dainty's Dictator.
b. transf. and fig. To bring forth: often with contemptuous implication.
1581J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 82 b, Two detestable lyes whelped at one lytter (so pregnant is this worme). 1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. ii. iv, Vnlesse shee had whelpt it her selfe, shee could not haue lou'd a thing better. a1641Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 422 Antignus, Boethus, Sadoc, and such mungrels were scarce whelped in Epiphanius his dayes. 1675Hobbes Odyss. viii. 472 Sing now of the Horse of Wood..Which in Troy-Town destruction to it whelpt. 1781Cowper Table-T. 536 Having whelped a prologue with great pains. 1821Scott Kenilw. xix, Out, you diminutive pint-pot, whelped of an overgrown reckoning! 1902Wister Virginian xv, None of 'em was whelped savage enough to sing himself bloodthirsty.
2. intr. To bring forth whelps.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. lxxiv. (Bodl. MS.), Þat wesels conceyue atte mouþe and whelpiþ atte ere. a1400Octouian 470 The tygre aftyr thys batayle, Whelpede sone for hyr trauayle. 1605B. Jonson Volpone ii. i, Your lyons whelping, in the Tower. 1660Boyle New Exp. Phys.-Mech. Digress. 368 A Bitch that was said to be almost ready to whelp. 1798W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. V. 208 On Paris' tomb The flocks insulting frisk, And whelps the lioness in Priam's hall. 1887Swinburne Locrine iv. ii. 98 No she-wolf whelps upon the wold Whose brood is like thy mother's.
fig.1821Shelley Hellas 874 The foliage in which Fame, the eagle, built Her aerie, while Dominion whelped below.
Hence whelped ppl. a., whelping vbl. n. (also in whelping ice (see quots.)).
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xxvi. (Bodl. MS.), In bicches melk is founde many daies bifore þe whelpinge. 1625K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis ii. xiii. 105 She was then lately dead in whelping. 1804W. Taylor in Robberds Mem. (1843) I. 491 Licking the whelped bears into courtliness at one's leisure. c1900J. P. Howley in Regional Lang. Stud.—Newfoundland (1978) viii. 23 Whelping ice. The part of an ice field where they [sc. seals] bring forth their young. 1907R. Leighton New Bk. Dog 578 Breeding and Whelping. 1919W. T. Grenfell Labrador Doctor (1920) ix. 174 The smoother, whiter variety known as ‘whelping ice’—that is, the Arctic shore ice..on which the seals give birth to their pups. 1969H. Horwood Newfoundland xii. 83 The drift ice where they [sc. seals] give birth to their young is the whelping ice. |
