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parfleche

[pahr-flesh, pahr-flesh]
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noun
  1. a rawhide that has been dried after having been soaked in a solution of lye and water to remove the hair.
  2. an article or object, as a case, pouch, etc., made of such rawhide.
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Origin of parfleche

1820–30; < Canadian French parflèche, equivalent to French par(er) to parry (see para-2) + flèche arrow
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for parfleche

Historical Examples

  • “The Sioux had parfleche soles to all their moccasins,” said John, wisely.

    The Young Alaskans on the Missouri

    Emerson Hough

  • The painted tongue and then the others are placed on the parfleche.

  • La Luna sat near her brother, sewing “parfleche” soles upon a pair of moccasins.

  • Then everybody began to sing hard, and four young men pounded with sticks on a parfleche, in time to the music.

    When Buffalo Ran

    George Bird Grinnell

  • The parfleche of tongues and other paraphernalia are brought out by the attending women and put down beside the couple.

British Dictionary definitions for parfleche

parfleche

noun US and Canadian
  1. a sheet of rawhide that has been dried after soaking in lye and water to remove the hair
  2. an object, such as a case, made of this
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Word Origin

C19: from Canadian French, from French parer to ward off, protect + flèche arrow
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