v.
intr. To utter a short, sharp bark or cry: excited dogs yelping; yelped in pain when the bee stung. v.
tr. To utter by yelping. n. A short, sharp cry or bark.
[Middle English yelpen, to cry aloud, from Old English gelpan, gielpan, to boast; see ghel-1 in Indo-European roots.] yelp'er n.
n. the whooping (electronic) siren on emergency vehicles. : The black and white rounded the corner, yelper blasting.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition. Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History
yelp
O.E. gelpan (Anglian), gielpan (W.Saxon) "to boast," from P.Gmc. *gelpanan (cf. O.S. galpon, O.N. gjalpa "to yelp," O.N. gjalp "boasting," O.H.G. gelph "outcry"), from PIE base *ghel- "to cry out." The noun (O.E. gielp) originally meant "boasting;" meaning "quick, sharp bark or cry" is attested from c.1500.