Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To utter a short, sharp bark or cry.
  • intransitive verb To utter by yelping.
  • noun A short, sharp cry or bark.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To boast; cry up a thing; exult; brag.
  • To give a sharp, shrill, quick cry, resembling a bark; bark sharply and shrilly; yawp: said of dogs, and also of some other creatures, especially a wild turkey-hen.
  • noun A boast; boasting.
  • noun An eager bark or cry; a sharp, quick bark or cry caused by fear or pain.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb obsolete To boast.
  • intransitive 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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To utter an abrupt, high-pitched noise.
  • noun An abrupt, high-pitched noise or utterance.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a sharp high-pitched cry (especially by a dog)
  • verb bark in a high-pitched tone

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English yelpen, to cry aloud, from Old English gelpan, gielpan, to boast; see ghel- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English ġielpan.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English ġielp.

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Examples

  • When ABC's audio picked up a standard "get in the hole" yelp from a fan in the gallery, Alliss responded immediately — "Oh, shut up!"

    ABC's coverage lets the air out of British Open 2007

  • A piteous yelp from the lower regions at last announced that the thief was captured, and Tom appeared bearing Snip by the nape of the neck in one hand and Polly's cherished bonnet in the other.

    An Old-Fashioned Girl 1950

  • Link so, i got this interesting bit of information from someone who worked for yelp: yelp is very agresssive in selling ads, the so called “sponsored results” to businesses which are being reviewed on yelp. when a business signs up for “sponsored results” (several k$), bad reviews then will be hidden. that means anytime the business stops taking out those ads, the bad reviews which remained hidden during the “sponsored results” run, pop up again. as a result, yelp is not at all a neutral review site. that entire idea is skewed! yelp can be helpful, but take it with a grain of salt or two. and be suspicious of “sponsored results” …. — bmwcafe

    Why Yelp Works - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com 2008

  • -- "The yelp is a basic turkey sound, delivered in a series of single note vocalizations and can have different meanings depending on how the hen intends."

    Vickie Karp: Third Screen: Meleagris Gallopavo 2008

  • It is critical to set up a profile on Yelp and encourage happy customers to 'yelp' about your business.

    Alistair Goodman: How Location-Based Services Can Boost Your Small Business Alistair Goodman 2010

  • It is critical to set up a profile on Yelp and encourage happy customers to 'yelp' about your business.

    Alistair Goodman: How Location-Based Services Can Boost Your Small Business Alistair Goodman 2010

  • It is critical to set up a profile on Yelp and encourage happy customers to 'yelp' about your business.

    Alistair Goodman: How Location-Based Services Can Boost Your Small Business Alistair Goodman 2010

  • Mr Gibson's who suffers from arthritis was accused by PC Steven Cole of twisting his thumb so hard during the arrest it made him "yelp"

    Archive 2008-01-01 FIDO The Dog 2008

  • I've hear them chatter, but I never heard that kind of yelp!

    Spa Day K. A. Laity 2005

  • I jammed my left hand deep into his crotch which made him kinda "yelp" a bit like a bad puppy.

    unclebob Diary Entry unclebob 2005

Comments

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  • How progressive is this site intended to be? Anyway, yelp has taken on a verb sense - to write reviews for the website yelp.com

    February 12, 2010

  • yeck.

    February 12, 2010

  • Yep.

    February 14, 2010

  • *Yelp*

    February 14, 2010