leather
[leth -er]
- the skin of an animal, with the hair removed, prepared for use by tanning or a similar process designed to preserve it against decay and make it pliable or supple when dry.
- an article made of this material.
- stirrup leather.
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- pertaining to, made of, or resembling leather: leather processing; leather upholstery.
- Slang. catering to or patronized by customers who typically wear leather clothing, often as a means of signaling interest in or preference for sadomasochistic sexual activity.
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- to cover or furnish with leather.
- Informal. to beat with a leather strap.
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Origin of leather
before 1000; Middle English lether, Old English lether- (in compounds); cognate with Dutch, German leder, Old Norse lethr, MIr lethar skin, leather, Welsh lledr, Middle Breton lezr leather
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for leather
Contemporary Examples
With every stroke, her leather boot creaked under the weight of her leg.
She tugged on the black rope that wrapped around his thighs and torso, her leather gloves creaking with each adjustment.
I am holding in my hand a book, bound in black “genuine top-grain” leather.
Poking out of the shiny gold pages is a “distinctive silk marker”—also gold—which “complements the color of the leather.”
“Now get on your knees and crawl,” he demanded with the slap of a leather horse crop against the palm of his hand.
Historical Examples
Round this a piece of leather is stretched and dressed with emery.
The Story of the Invention of Steel PensHenry Bore
Everybody else said that Dozier was the best man that ever pulled a gun out of leather.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
My companion paused, drumming on the leather covering of his chair.
The UnderdogF. Hopkinson Smith
As for furs and leather and lumber, no other town in the colonies compared with Albany.
In the ValleyHarold Frederic
When they are cold, tie up the jar; covering the cork with leather.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various BranchesEliza Leslie
leather
- a material consisting of the skin of an animal made smooth and flexible by tanning, removing the hair, etc
- (as modifier)leather goods Related adjectives: coriaceous, leathern
- (plural) leather clothes, esp as worn by motorcyclists
- the flap of a dog's ear
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- to cover with leather
- to whip with or as if with a leather strap
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Word Origin
Old English lether- (in compound words); related to Old High German leder, Old Norse lethr-
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for leather
n.
Old English leðer (in compounds only) "hide, skin, leather," from Proto-Germanic *lethran (cf. Old Norse leðr, Old Frisian lether, Old Saxon lethar, Middle Dutch, Dutch leder, Old High German ledar, German leder), from PIE *letro- "leather" (cf. Old Irish lethar, Welsh lledr, Breton lezr). As an adjective from early 14c.; it acquired a secondary sense of "sado-masochistic" 1980s, having achieved that status in homosexual jargon in the 1970s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with leather
leather
see hell-bent for leather.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.