puppy

English Online Dictionary. What means puppy‎? What does puppy mean?

English

Alternative forms

• puppie (obsolete)

Etymology

From earlier puppie (“a woman's pet dog”), of uncertain origin, but probably from Middle English *puppee, *poupee, from Old French poupée, popée (“a doll; puppet”). More at puppet.

Mostly displaced native Middle English whelp (“puppy”), from Old English hwelp, whence Modern English whelp and whelpie.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈpʌpi/, [ˈpʰɐpi]
• Rhymes: -ʌpi

Noun

puppy (plural puppies)

2. A young dog, especially before sexual maturity (12–18 months)
3. A young rat.
4. A young seal.
5. (slang, usually in the plural) A woman’s breast.
   • 2007, Rodney Carrington, Show Them To Me (from the album King of the Mountains)

     Unclasp your bra and set those puppies free.

6. (informal) A (generic) thing; particularly something that is a nuisance; a sucker.

7. (derogatory, dated) A conceited and impertinent person, especially a young man.

Synonyms

• (young dog): dogling, pup, whelp, whelpie
• (young seal): pup
• (woman’s breast): See also Thesaurus:breast

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

puppy (third-person singular simple present puppies, present participle puppying, simple past and past participle puppied)

1. (transitive) To bring forth whelps or give birth to pups.

Synonyms

• pup
• whelp