See Also:

pup(1) (iou)



pup noun. L16.
[Back-form. from PUPPY noun, as if a dim. in -Y6.]
a. A stupid, arrogant, or unpleasant young man. L16.
b. A youthful or inexperienced person, a beginner. colloq. (chiefly N. Amer.). L19.
A young dog, a whelp, a young puppy. L18.
Dogworld Whelping and rearing 10 pups involved the usual trauma, triumphs, and..energy.
A young animal of certain other animals, as the wolf, seal, rat, etc. E19.
Orcadian 10,000-plus..pups had been culled.
A little creek; a stream which flows into a creek. L19.
A small fast aeroplane used in the war of 1914-18. Military slang. E20.
A four-wheeled trailer drawn by a lorry or other vehicle. US slang. M20.
Phrases: be a pup, be only a pup Austral. colloq. (of the day or night) have scarcely begun, be not far advanced. buy a pup be swindled. in pup (of a bitch) pregnant. mucky pup: see MUCKY adjective 1. sell a person a pup swindle a person, esp. by selling something on its supposed prospective value. with pup = in pup above.
Comb.: pupfish any of various small cyprinodont fishes of the genus Cyprinodon found in fresh or brackish water in the deserts of the south-western US and northern Mexico, several species of which are confined to single pools; pup joint Oil Industry a piece of drill pipe of less than the standard length; pup-tent (orig. US Military) a small tent or bivouac, a dog-tent.