yelp Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a sharp high-pitched cry (especially by a dog)
    yelping; yip.
  2. verb bark in a high-pitched tone
    yip; yap.
    • the puppies yelped

WordNet

Yelp intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. yelpen, elpen, to boast, boast noisily, AS. gielpan, gilpan, gylpan; akin to OHG. gelph arrogant: cf. Icel. gjalpa to yelp. Cf. Yap.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Yelped ; present participle & verbal noun Yelping
Definitions
  1. To boast. Obs.
    I keep [care] not of armes for to yelpe. Chaucer.
  2. To utter a sharp, quick cry, as a hound; to bark shrilly with eagerness, pain, or fear; to yaup.
    A little herd of England's timorous deer, Mazed with a yelping kennel of French curs? Shak.
    At the least flourish of a broomstick or ladle, he would fly to the door with a yelping precipitation. W. Irving.
Yelp noun
Definitions
  1. A sharp, quick cry; a bark. Chaucer.

Webster 1913