cub (1)

[Etym. doubtful. Skeat refers to Fr. cuiba cub, a whelp, and compares Wel. cenan=a whelp; Gael.cuain=a litter of whelps.] 1. Lit.: The young of certain animals, as of a dog, a lion, a bear, a fox; a puppy, a whelp. "I would outstare the sternest eyes that look,.. Pluck the young sucking cubs from the she-bear." Shakesp.: Mer. of Ven., ii. 1. In the following Waller applies the word to the young of a whale. "One as a mountain vast, and with her came A oub, not much inferior to his dam." Waller: Battle of the Summer Islands, 87. 2. Fig . A young boy or girl. (Used in contempt or aversion.) "O thou di embling cub ! what wilt thou be When time hath sow'd a grizzle on thy case?" Shakesp.: Twelfth Night , v. 1.