c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xv. 27 Soð hiu cweð gee drihten forðon & huoelpas brucas of screadungum ða ðe falles of bead hlaferda hiora.

c1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 368 Gyf þu on foreweardon sumera þigest hwylcne hwelpan þonne gyt ungeseondne.

c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 172 Gif þu wille þæt wif cild hæbbe oþþe tife hwelp.

c1000 Ags. Voc. in Wright Voc. 78 Catulus, hwylp.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15814 Let þu þa hundes..eiðer freten oðer swa hund deð his broðer. and leten heore whelpes whæruen heom bi-sides.

c1430 Chev. Assigne 61 Seuenne whelpes she sawe sowkynge þe damme.

c1480 (a1400) St. George 278 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 184 He folouyt hyre as it had bene þe mekeste quhelpe wes euir sene.

1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 1^v So must I dispraise his methode in writing, which following the course of amarous Poets, dwelleth longest in those pointes, that profit least: and like a wanton whelpe, leaueth the game, to runne riot.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 139 That Whelpes..of one and the same Bitch, be neuer suffered to couple.

a1682 Sir T. Browne Certain Misc. Tracts (1684) v. 119 I kept an Eagle two years, which fed upon Kats, Kittlings, Whelps and Ratts.

1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 37. ⁋2 Trips, a Whelp just set in.

1766 O. Goldsmith Elegy Mad Dog in Vicar of Wakefield I. 175 Both mungrel, puppy, whelp, and hound.

1816 W. Scott Let. 18 Apr. (1933) IV. 217 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 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede I. i. v. 111 I want to call at the Hall Farm..to look at the whelps Poyser is keeping for me.

1894 R. Kipling ‘Mary Gloster’ Verse 1919 I. 175 Mean as a collier's whelp Nosing for scraps in the galley.

1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum xviii. xxv. (Bodl.) lf. 260 b/2 Þe bitche goþ wiþ whelpe in here wombe iiij^xx daies.

1562 J. Heywood Sixt Hundred Epigrammes xvii, in Wks. sig. Ccii Thy bytch great with whelpe.

a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 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.

c825 Vesp. Psalter xvi[i]. 12 Swe swe hwelp leon eardiende in degulnissum.

a1050 Liber Scintill. (1889) xxiv. 95 Raptis foetibus, gegripenum hwealpum.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 5838 Forr leness whellp þær þær itt iss. Whellpedd. tær liþ itt stille. Þre daȝhess.

c1290 St. Edmund 72 in S. Eng. Leg. 299 And riȝt ase he [sc. a wolf] wolde is owene ȝwelp with wilde bestes it wuste.

c1386 G. Chaucer Squire's Tale 491 As by the whelpe chasted is the leon.

1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum xiii. xxvi. (Bodl.) lf. 137 b/1 [The whale] loueþ his whelpes with a wonder loue.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 7103 A lion quilpe þat ran ouer-thuert, Rampand to sampson he stert.

c1440 Alphabet of Tales 307 Þer was wulfe-whelpis þerin.

c1440 Alphabet of Tales 478 Þe propurtie of þe ape is to hafe ij whelpis.

c1440 Gesta Romanorum (Harl.) lix. 243 We haue longe tyme fedde þere with þe serpente & hir whelpes.

a1578 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) II. 302 Ane kow of Sauchie that calffit xxv grew quholpis.

1677 N. Cox Gentleman's Recreation (ed. 2) i. 134 When the she-Bear perceiveth her self with whelp, she withdraws her self into some Cave.

1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth III. 233 To let the lioness suckle her own whelps.

1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan III. 265 The whelp of a bitch-catamount.

1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species xiii. 439 Stripes can be plainly distinguished in the whelp of the lion.

1870 W. C. Bryant tr. Homer Iliad II. xvii. 161 Firm as stands A lion o'er his whelps.

1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 265/1 Thou arte moder of a right noble whelp.

1570 T. Tusser Hundreth Good Pointes Husbandry (new ed.) f. 37^v Not rod in madbraines hand is that can helpe, but gentle skill doth make the proper whelpe.

1591 F. Moryson Let. in Itinerary (1617) i. 14 Imbrace in my name our common friend G. B. and of my loving hosts family let not a whelpe goe unsaluted.

1591–2 Rob Stene's Dream (1836) 5 Bot ȝe sowld cheifly mene his caice, To quhalpis ar of his nobill raice.

1852 C. Kingsley Let. in Life (1879) I. x. 273 I and my gardener George, and my little whelp Maurice and Dandy, Went out this afternoon fishing.

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 150 Þe vicorne of wraððe..haueð .vi. hwelpes. þe eareste is cheost oðer strif.

a1400 Sir Beues (A.) 1733 ‘A-ȝilt þe,’ a seide, ‘þow fox welp.’

c1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) v. 51 And save thi servaunt from helle qwelp.

1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus ii. iii. 281 Two of thy whelps, fell curs of bloody kinde, Haue here bereft my brother of his life. View more context for this quotation

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 A. Cowley Cutter of Coleman-St. iv. vi. 48 This bouncing Bear of a Colonel will break the back of, my little Whelp o' a Captain.

1831 G. P. R. James Philip Augustus 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.

1338 R. Mannyng Chron. (1725) 281 Cambinhoy beres him coy, þat fendes whelp.

a1340 R. Rolle Psalter lvi. 5 Warldis lufers þat ere the whelpis of deuels.

1564 T. Becon New Catech. in Wks. 497 Those whelpes of Rome.

1580 H. Gifford Posie of Gilloflowers i. To Rdr. sig. *.3^v I woulde..liken all such whelpes of Zoilus, to that..canckerly naturde curre.

1590 R. Greene Mourning Garment 8 Use not dice, for they be Fortunes whelpes.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 284 The Son, that [s]he did littour heere, A frekelld whelpe, hag-borne. View more context for this quotation

1634 J. Canne Necessitie of Separation ii. 105 Their vngracious Bishops, these whelpes of Antichrist.

c1330 Arth. & Merl. 4516 Him to helpe, To fiȝt oȝain þe Sarrazin welpe.

a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xii. 123 Thou art an yll qwelp For angre!

1611 B. Jonson Catiline i. sig. C4 Let me but finde you againe with such a face: You Whelpe . View more context for this quotation

1710 Brit. Apollo 9–11 May He's..a Silly Whelp.

1711 J. 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 S. Richardson Pamela (ed. 2) I. Introd. p. xxvi When she was beginning to complain of the whelp Lord's Impertinence.

1768 O. Goldsmith Good Natur'd Man ii. 20 Stupid whelp. But I don't wonder, the boy takes entirely after his mother.

1809 W. Scott Let. 7 Aug. (1932) II. 214 It is funny enough to see a whelp of a young Lord Byron abusing me.

1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang 192 Whelp, a boy with dog's-tricks.

1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple I. iii. 30 Bad company, you whelp.

1866 M. E. 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.

1356 in Pipe Roll 32 Edward III m. 34/1 Idem computat expendisse..in factura .iij. Whelpes .j. grossi Wynche..c. lb.

a1625 H. Mainwaring Nomenclator Navalis (Harl. 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.

1627 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 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Capstern The whelps rise out from the main body of the capstern like buttresses.

1847 A. C. Key Narr. Recov. H.M.S. Gorgon 19 The space between which had been filled up with wood, like the whelps of a capstan.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 6029 Þatt deor Þatt wass i leoness like. Þatt riseþþ o þe þridde daȝȝ Affterr þatt itt iss whellpedd.

a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 88 Monie mo hweolpes þen ich habbe inempned haueð þe liun of prude i hweolped.

1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) xviii. i. lf. 241 b/2 Þe female wolfe whelpiþ manye whelpes as þe bitche doþe.

1493 Festivall (1515) 145 Whan a lyon hath yonge whelpes they shall lye as deed thre dayes after y^t they ben whelped.

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 155^v As soone as they be Whelped, cast away such as you mislike.

1677 N. Cox Gentleman's Recreation (ed. 2) i. 135 [Bears] are Whelped most commonly in March, sometimes two, and not above five in number.

1731 Gentleman's 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.

1775 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 66 103 They all come on shore in December, to whelp their young.

1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. I. iii. 56 Jack's the dog as can draw a brock..agin any Lonnun dog as ever was whelped.

1892 Brit. Fancier 19 Feb. 71/2 His bitch Dainty..has just whelped a..fine litter to Mrs. Dainty's Dictator.

1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 82 b Two detestable lyes whelped at one lytter (so pregnant is this worme).

1616 B. Jonson Cynthias Revels (rev. ed.) ii. iv, in Wks. I. 205 Vnlesse shee had whelpt it her selfe, shee could not haue lou'd a thing better.

a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) 422 Antignus, Boethus, Sadoc, and such mungrels were scarce whelped in Epiphanius his dayes.

1675 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Odysses viii. 472 Sing now of the Horse of Wood..Which in Troy-Town destruction to it whelpt.

1781 W. Cowper Table Talk 536 Having whelped a prologue with great pains.

1821 W. Scott Kenilworth II. vii. 193 Out, you diminutive pint-pot, whelped of an overgrown reckoning!

1902 O. Wister Virginian xv. 166 None of 'em was whelped savage enough to sing himself bloodthirsty.