Meanings
- USA young scout in the Boy Scouts of America who is working his way up to the Boy Scouts.
- pluralplural of Webelo
"He could jump right in as a Webelo.” Even before Art said it, everyone who'd ever seen Scot instinctively knew he was a Webelo. […] We just need some time to read a little more about Webelos.
2010 05, Michael Downing, Breakfast with Scot, ReadHowYouWant.com, →ISBN, page 2105 more examples
As a Webelo (age 10), he earned all the awards available in that level of Scouting. […] He became a Boy Scout this year after moving up through Cubs and Webelos. As a Webelo, he earned all the[…]
1979, Lois Hedgecock Gay, Generations: The Margaret and Samuel Clinard Clan of North CarolinaI was teaching Wolf, Bear Dens, and Webelos on Tuesdays and Cubs on Wednesdays. I honestly don't know how I managed to handle this. I know Heavenly Father was giving me help. One of my sons was a Webelo and one was a Bear Cub.
2013 January 27, Rosetta Fairbanks, Learning from an Angel One Day at a Time, Rosetta R. Fairbanks, →ISBN, page 88“Not my finest hour,” he admitted with a faint smile. “But I did belong to the Webelos, if that helps.” “What's a Webelo?” Ian laughed. “Webelos. We be loyal Scouts.” “Are you in good standing with them?” “As far as I know.” “Then swear on your honor as a Webelo that you won't laugh.”
2014 March 1, Judy Duarte, Teresa Southwick, Joanna Sims, Harlequin Special Edition March 2014 - Bundle 2 of 2: An Anthology, Harlequin, →ISBN“My boy's a Webelo. Why else would I be sleeping in a tent?! There's a reason we started building ... Then the Webelos came back, loudly talking about how they had all started fires. Pack 116, building pyromaniacs one boy at a time!
2014 July 30, Rollie Lawson, A Fresh Start: Book 6, Lulu Press, Inc, →ISBNI made it just far enough to become a “Webelo,” which is scouting's equivalent of a “tween,” a boy no longer a cub but not yet whatever is supposed to come next. A man? A bear? An eagle? A fake Indian? (Webelos are referred to as a[…]
2018 August 28, Michael P. Branch, How to Cuss in Western: And Other Missives from the High Desert, Shambhala Publications, →ISBN, page 44
Origin
An invented term that originated in the Boy Scouts of America c. 1954. The Bear Cub Scout Book of 1954 claims that "Webelos" is an American Indian tribe of which Akela is chief, and that the name comes from "Wolf, Bear, Lion, Scout." The rank of Lion Scout was later dropped, but the term "Webelos" was kept. Through folk etymology, it is now commonly stated that the term derives from "we'll be loyal Scouts," although this was not the term's original meaning.http://books.google.com/books?id=Nf0DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA4&dq=webelo+scout+%22wolf%22+bear+lion&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fXSNUN_-C9S80QHW6IGYAg&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=webelo%20scout%20%22wolf%22%20bear%20lion&f=false
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Webelos. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Webelos
“Webelos.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Webelos. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Webelos,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Webelos.
Source: Webelos on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.