fleshes

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of flesh. Rare; flesh is usually uncountable.

   Note

   A plural that the noun rarely needs. Flesh is usually uncountable, whether it means muscle and fat, skin, meat as food, or the mortal body set against the spirit. Fleshes appears when distinct kinds are being compared, such as the flesh of one fruit or species against another. For a single body or a single meal, keep the uncountable form: much flesh, not many fleshes. The same spelling also serves the present-tense verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of flesh.

   The novelist fleshes out each character with a vivid backstory.

   The tanner fleshes every hide to remove fat and tissue.

   Note

   Almost every use of the verb is transitive, so fleshes nearly always comes with an object. A hunter fleshes a hound or hawk by rewarding it with the kill, a fighter fleshes a weapon by burying it in flesh, a farmer fleshes an animal by fattening it, and a tanner fleshes a hide by scraping the flesh from it. The sense of hardening someone to a practice is obsolete.

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