leather

Pluralleathers (some meanings)

Formsleathers, leathering, leathered

1. 1
   noununcountable

   A tough material made from animal skin treated by tanning, used for shoes, bags, and clothing; most often from cattle unless another animal is named.

   The craftsman cut the leather into narrow strips for the belt.

   Genuine leather develops a rich patina after years of handling.

   Similarhide

   Note

   The word behind every other sense on this page comes from Old English leþer, from a Germanic word that may have been borrowed from Celtic. As a material it is uncountable: made of leather, the smell of leather. It becomes countable when kinds are compared, as in soft leathers or fine leathers. Placed before another noun, it turns into the 'made of leather' adjective, as in leather boots.

2. 2
   adjective

   Made of leather.

   The armchair has a smooth leather surface that creaks when you sit.

   They chose leather seats when ordering the car.

   Similarleathern

   Note

   Here the noun works as a modifier naming what something is made of. The American novelist Winston Churchill's The Celebrity (1897) gives a man a heavy leather watch guard. It does not compare, since nothing is more leather than something else. Leathern means the same thing, built with the old -en ending found in wooden and woolen.

3. 3
   nouncountable or uncountable

   Clothing made from animal skin, especially the protective gear often worn by motorcycle riders.

   The rider's leather was scuffed from years on the road.

   Racers wear leather to protect their skin if they slide on the track.

   Note

   Here the word turns countable and usually plural: a rider pulls on leathers, meaning the whole outfit, while uncountable leather names the same gear more loosely, as in wearing leather on the track. The plural is the natural choice for a matched riding suit. When the point is the material rather than the garments, the plain noun is the word to reach for.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A piece of leather used for polishing, such as buffing metal or glass to a shine.

   He buffed the brass fittings with a damp leather until they gleamed.

   A clean leather brings out the shine on a pair of dress shoes.

   Similarchamois

5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To strike something or someone with great force.

   The striker leathered the ball into the top corner of the net.

   Players who leather the puck that hard risk shattering the glass.

   Similarblast, smash, hammer, wallop, whack

   Note

   A verb of full-power hitting, most at home with a ball as its object: you leather the ball down the street or into the net. It always takes an object, so the thing struck must be named. Keep it apart from the strapping sense, where a leather belt or strap is the instrument. Here no strap is involved, and the word describes only the force of the blow.

6. 6
   verbtransitive

   To spank or beat someone using a leather belt or strap.

   In those days a teacher might leather a boy for talking back.

   The farmer leathered the stable hand for losing the horse.

   Similarthrash, strap, belt, whip, flog

   Note

   Domestic punishment is its usual setting across two centuries. It appears in Andrew Kippis's The New Annual Register (1806), H. Salisbury's Betrayed (2005) and Agnes Owens's novellas (2011). The 1806 text explains it with beat in brackets. The instrument is often named with with, as in leathered with a heavy belt. The passive with get also turns up: getting leathered.

7. 7
   verbtransitive

   To cover or wrap something with leather.

   Craftsmen leather the handles so they feel warm to the grip.

   She leathered the old trunk to give it a finished look.

   Note

   The covering can be a sheath rather than upholstery. In Rain Trueax's Lands of Fire (2015), a man rises and leathers his Colt, slipping the revolver into its leather holster. So the verb can mean putting something into a leather case as well as wrapping or trimming it. It is regular: leathered, leathering.

8. 8
   noununcountableabbreviationclipping

   Clipping of fruit leather.

   We spread the apple purée thin so the leather would dry evenly.

   Each strip of leather peeled cleanly off the baking sheet.

   Note

   Short for fruit leather, a snack named for how it looks: puréed fruit spread thin and dried into a flexible sheet. The clipped form works once the kitchen context is clear, as in the leather peeled off the tray. The fruit can also be named in front, as in apple leather. Without that context, a reader will hear the material, so give the full compound first.

9. 9
   adjective

   Describing a person who wears leather clothing (motorcycle jacket, chaps, boots) as a marker of a gay subculture associated with sadomasochism.

   She wrote a history of the leather scene in 1970s San Francisco.

   He felt at home among the leather regulars at the club.

   Note

   Here the clothing of motorcycle leathers becomes an identity. The jacket, chaps over 501 jeans and boots mark a gay subculture tied to sadomasochism. The word names who wears the gear and why, not what the gear is made of. It modifies people, places and communities, as in the leather scene. That community use is what gives rise to the 'leather family' sense.

10. 10
    nouncountable

    A punch, especially a forceful blow delivered with the fist in boxing.

    The champion absorbed leather after leather without flinching.

    He slipped the jab and answered with a sharp leather to the body.

    Similarpunch, blow

    Note

    Boxing calls a punch by the glove that lands it. It often works as a mass noun, so a fighter takes leather or absorbs leather, though a single blow can also be counted. It belongs to ringside talk and commentary. It sits close to the verb for striking hard, where to leather something is simply to hit it with force.

Showing meanings only. Show all 15