leatherjacket

[leth -er-jak-it]

noun

Also called leather jack. any of several carangid fishes having narrow, linear scales embedded in the skin at various angles, especially Oligoplites saurus, found in tropical American waters.

Australian. a pancake or other dough fried over a campfire.

the grub of the crane fly.

Origin of leatherjacket

First recorded in 1760–70; leather + jacket

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for leatherjacket

leatherjacket

noun

any of various tropical carangid fishes of the genera Oligoplites and Scomberoides, having a leathery skin

any of various brightly coloured tropical triggerfishes of the genus Monacanthus and related genera

the greyish-brown tough-skinned larva of certain craneflies, esp of the genus Tipula, which destroy the roots of grasses, etc

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