Crossword Genius

Give birth with assistance (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

whelp

'give birth' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'with assistance' is the wordplay.
'with' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'assistance' becomes 'help' ('help' can be a synonym of 'assistance').
'w'+'help'='WHELP'

(Other definitions for whelp that I've seen before include "Offspring of wolf" , "bear" , "Give birth to (a puppy)" , "youngster" , "Young mammal" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian and The Times.
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