cowhide

American  

[kou-hahyd] / ˈkaʊˌhaɪd /

noun

1. the hide of a cow.

2. the leather made from it.

3. a strong, flexible whip made of rawhide or of braided leather.

4. Informal. cowhides, a pair of boots or shoes, especially those made of cowhide.

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verb (used with object)

cowhided, cowhiding

1. to whip with a cowhide.

cowhide British  

/ ˈkaʊˌhaɪd /

noun

1. the hide of a cow

2. the leather made from such a hide

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Etymology

Origin of cowhide

First recorded in 1630–40; cow ¹ + hide ²

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cowhide cowhided cowhiding

Inside is a cowhide segment of a game-used football.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026

Models — male and female — strutted down the runway in leather cowboy hats, cowhide valises, and checkered denim jackets adorned with bull badges, their cowboy boots boasting shiny metal points.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 16, 2024

They had blond, brown, and red hair, large noses, and wore bright, sometimes elaborate clothing fashioned from wool, furs, or cowhide.

From National Geographic ● Sep. 15, 2023

This doesn't hold true in the case of cowhide or sheepskin, though, according to Abbes.

From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2022

Then my mother checked to be sure the doors and windows had been sealed against the clouds of mosquitoes outside, and we lay on our beds of cowhide.

From "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by John Bul Dau

Now if Vanitas had not cultivated those excrescent sensibilities by assiduous compression, if he had thought more of big brains than little feet, his tattered, cowhided friend might have trodden harmlessly on his pedal phalanges.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 95, September 1865 by Various

"Father 'd have cowhided me anyway, I guess," he added, meditatively.

From Lin McLean by Wister, Owen

I suppose they think a lord isn't to be cowhided in this country.

From The Landleaguers by Trollope, Anthony

"Amos Royson is a coward; he will not only find himself in danger, but if necessary to save himself from a cowhiding will involve other people—even a woman!"

From Sons and Fathers by Edwards, Harry Stillwell

Many had evidently made up their minds that it would be more amusing to see the cowhiding than the circus.

From The Underground Railroad A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, &c., Narrating the Hardships, Hair-Breadth Escapes and Death Struggles of the Slaves in Their Efforts for Freedom, As Related by Themselves and Others, or Witnessed by the Author. by Still, William