yelp
/jɛlp/ noun, verb
Forms yelps yelping yelped
- noun An abrupt, high-pitched noise or utterance. “The puppy let out a yelp when I stepped on her tail.”
- noun A type of emergency vehicle siren sounding quicker and more intense than the wail.
- verb To utter an abrupt, high-pitched noise. “The children yelped with delight as they played in the cold water.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English ȝelp, yelp, from Old English ġielp (“boasting, arrogance, pride”), from Proto-West Germanic *gelp, from Proto-Germanic *gelpą (“boasting”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel- (“to shout”).
From Middle English ȝelpen, yelpen, from Old English ġielpan (“to boast”), from Proto-West Germanic *gelpan, from Proto-Germanic *gelpaną (“to sound off, boast”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel‑ (“to call, shout, scream”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian jalpe, galpe (“to bleep; cheep”), German Low German galpen (“to scream, shriek, howl”), Middle High German gelpfen, gelpfen (“to roar, howl, bark, boast, sing loudly”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To boast. [Obs.]
- verb To utter a sharp, quick cry, as a hound; to bark shrilly with eagerness, pain, or fear; to yaup.
- noun A sharp, quick cry; a bark. Chaucer.
Etymology [OE. yelpen, , to boast, boast noisily, AS. gielpan, gilpan, gylpan; akin to OHG. gelph arrogant: cf. Icel. gjalpa to yelp. Cf. Yap.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “yelp”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details