▪ I. leather, n.
(ˈlɛðə(r))
Forms: 1 leðer, 4–5 leder, leþer, (leeder), 4–6 ledder, -yr, 5 ledur, -yr, (letheir), 5–7, 8 Sc. lether(e, 6 Sc. lathir, 7 lather, 6– leather.
[OE. leðer (only in compounds, as leðer-hose, weald-leðer bridle) = OFris. leither, leder, lider, leer, OSax. leðar (Du. leder, leer), OHG. ledar (MHG., G. leder), ON. leðr (Sw. läder, Da. læder):—OTeut. *leþro{supm} neut.:—pre-Teut. *létro{supm}, whence Irish leathar, Welsh lledr, Breton ler (earlier lezr).]
I. The simple word.
1. a. Skin prepared for use by tanning, or some similar process.
American leather, a kind of oil-cloth; ‘an English name for what in the U.S. is called enameled cloth’ (Funk); patent leather, leather having a fine black varnished surface; vegetable leather, a material consisting of a layer or layers of linen on which india-rubber is spread; white leather, leather dressed so as to retain its natural colour. For Morocco, Russia, Spanish, Turkey leather, see the prefixed words.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 324 Þe hund þet fret leðer..me beateð him anonriht. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1581 Alle þat loked on þat letter as lewed þay were As þay had loked in þe leþer of my lyft bote. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 45 So may men go on þe eyre ȝif it be closid wiþinne leþer. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 33 With leder þo mouthe þen schalt þou bynde. c 1440 Jacob's Well 256 Þe preest schal clothe þe in whyȝt ledyr. c 1450 Merlin 370 Merlin made hem digge depe undir an Oke till thei fonde a vessel of lether. 1464 Inv. in Turner's Dom. Archit. III. 113 A square standarde, and covered with blaak letheir. 1513 Douglas æneis xi. xv. 9 Sovir weid Of curbulȝe or leddyr wyth gylt nalis. 1519 Churchw. Acc. St. Giles, Reading 7 For a hide of white lether viij{supd}. 1546 Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 238 Ane bulget of blak ledder. a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. (Arb.) 97 Turning of good wine, out of a faire sweete flagon of siluer, into a foule mustie bottell of ledder. 1579 Langham Gard. Health (1633) 665 Binde the herbe to the body in Crimson lether, to stop bleeding. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. ii. 140 The pennie he causet be cuinȝet of a buffill hyde, to wit of sik kynde of lathir. 1611 Bible 2 Kings i. 8 Girt with a girdle of leather about his loynes. 1704 F. Fuller Med. Gymn. (1711) 121 We can by squeezing make Water pass through Leather. 1852 C. Morfit Tanning & Currying (1853) 146 When placed in the tan-vats they [hides or skins] become leather. 1893 G. Allen Scallywag I. 97 That peculiar sort of deep-brown oil-cloth which is known..as American leather. |
| fig. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. v. 29 Not a cruel man exactly, but a man of leather. |
b. pl. Kinds of leather.
| 1853 Ure Dict. Arts (ed. 4) II. 65 A great variety of leathers in all conditions and states of manufacture is exhibited. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 5 Dec. 3/2 An elementary course on the dressing of skins and more advanced courses on the tanning of heavy and light leathers. |
c. Proverbs and proverbial sayings.
| 1460 Marg. Paston in P. Lett. III. 372 Men cut large thongs here of other men's lether. 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. cxiii. 696 The common prouerbe which saith that wee cut large thongs of other mens lether. 1767 Fenning Univ. Spelling Bk. 36 A Currier, being present, said..If you have a Mind to have the Town well fortified and secure, take my Word, there is Nothing like Leather. 1837 Sir F. Palgrave Merch. & Friar (1844) 147 Depend upon it, Sir, there is nothing like leather. |
d. leather and prunella: an expression for something to which one is utterly indifferent.
[This is, strictly speaking, a misinterpretation of Pope's words; the context refers to the difference of rank between the ‘cobbler’ and the ‘parson’,
prunella being mentioned as the material for the clerical gown.]
| 1734 Pope Ess. Man iv. 204 Worth makes the man, and want of it, the fellow: The rest is all but leather or prunella. 1811 Byron Epitaph J. Blackett, Then who shall say so good a fellow Was only ‘leather and prunella?’ 1831 Society I. 32 A preux chevalier, to whom all others were leather and prunella. 1879 Trollope Thackeray 192 The man to whom these delights of American humour are leather and prunello. |
2. a. An article or appliance made of leather,
e.g. a strap, a thong; a piece of leather for a plaster or to tighten a tap; the leathern portion of a bellows, or of a pump-sucker; a stirrup-leather.
upper leather: see
upper.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 199 Herof þou schalt plane vpon a leþer, & leie it to þe lyme þat is forseid. 1486 Bk. St. Albans B vj, Thessame letheris that be putt in hir bellis. 1497 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 237 Coueryng & settyng the Newe ledders vnto the seid Bellowes. c 1500 Melusine ix. 39 At both thendes of the said thonge or leder shal spryng out of the Roche a fayre fontayne. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xc. 285 He..stretched him so in his styrropes that y⊇ lethers streyned out thre fyngers. 1586 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 22 Item given for the leather which it [the bell clapper] hings, iiijd. 1607 Markham Caval. ii. (1617) 75 Those..thrustings forward with your legges, stirrops and leathers. 1702 T. Savery Miner's Friend 82 The [friction of the] others are vastly encreased by the Leathers of their Suckers. 1703 Art & Myst. Vintners 38 Take a course harden Cloth, and put it before the Bore..then put in your Leathers. 1731 H. Beighton in Phil. Trans. XXXVII. 9 When the Leathers [of a pump] grow too soft, they are not capable of sustaining the Pillar to be raised. 1852 R. F. Burton Falconry Indus iv. 47 note, Bewits are leathers and bells buttoned round the shank. 1853 ‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green i. xii, They..endeavoured to have a game of billiards..with curious cues that had no leathers. 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 300/2 Hunting saddle,..complete with stirrup irons and leathers. 1928 D. Byrne Destiny Bay vii. §2. 314 The shorter your leathers, the less you know about your mount. 1936 J. Cary Afr. Witch vii. 137 ‘You ride too long... Take up your leathers.’ Fisk obediently took up his stirrups a hole. 1952 M. Allingham Tiger in Smoke xiii. 197 Off you go! Shorten your leathers. |
b. pl. Articles for wear made of leather,
e.g. shoes, slippers, leggings, breeches. Hence
colloq. ‘leathers’ as a name for one who wears leather breeches or leggings. Also
sing., a leather jacket or coat.
| 1837 Dickens Pickw. xix, ‘Out of the vay, young leathers’. 1841 Lever C. O'Malley iv. 24 His own costume of black coat, leathers and tops was in perfect keeping. a 1845 Hood Agric. Distress vi, He taps his leathers with his stick. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis xx, ‘Jump in, old boy—go it, leathers!’ 1873 Browning Red Cott. Nt.-cap 1317 Carried pick-a-back..Big-baby-fashion, lest his leathers leak! 1883 E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leicestersh. 152 They..came in the full glory of pink and leathers. 1887 I. R. Lady's Ranche Life Montana 64 A great big man with a beard, dressed in white leathers and jack boots. 1894 Conan Doyle S. Holmes 56, I glanced down at the new patent leathers which I was wearing. 1962 John o' London's 4 Jan. 20/1 A Banquo little more than an Oberon in his ‘leather’. Ibid. 31 May 535/4 Two youths in leathers and crash-helmets. 1970 Daily Tel. 2 Mar. 14 Ankle-length, shiny, wet-look coats, suèdes and leathers were often trimmed with fur. 1972 Ellis & Newman in T. Kochman Rappin' & Stylin' Out 378 Wear ‘black leathers’. 1973 P. Dickinson Gift ix. 142 Ian got into his leathers, Davy put on two extra layers of clothing, the bike started first kick. |
c. Cricket and
Football. The ball.
| 1868 Box Theory & Pract. Cricket 22 They [the French] can see no delight in..getting in the way of ‘leather’. 1882 Daily Tel. 17 May, Spofforth resigned the leather to Boyle. 1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad xxvii, Is football playing.., With lads to chase the leather, Now I stand up no more? |
d. As the name of a colour.
| 1872 Queen 15 June 431/3 Costume cloth in all the new colours, including pink,..leather,..and all leading colours. 1923 Daily Mail 16 Jan. 1 (Advt.), Coat frock..Grey, Mole, Leather,..New Brown. Ibid. 31 July 1/3 (Advt.), Grey, Smoke, Leather and Navy. |
e. slang. Various articles made of, or clad in, leather, such as (
a) a wallet or purse; (
b) a leather-shod foot; hence a kick; (
c) a boxing-glove; hence a punch or boxing.
| (a) 1883 ‘Mark Twain’ Life on Mississippi lii. 511, I pulled off an old woman's leather; (robbed her of her pocket-book). 1899 ‘J. Flynt’ Tramping with Tramps 395 ‘To reef a leather’ means that the pickpocket pulls out the lining of a pocket containing the ‘leather’. 1914 Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 54 Leather,..Some general currency, but used chiefly by pickpockets. A pocketbook; a wallet; a billbook. 1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad 331 Leathers, wallets. (An inveterate pickpocket is sometimes called ‘A Leather Merchant’.) 1955 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 114 The ordinary billfold which men normally carry, folded double, in the hip pocket, is called a leather. |
| (b) 1931 D. Runyon Guys & Dolls (1932) vi. 118 Dave walks over and starts to give Waldo Winchester the leather. 1936 J. Curtis Gilt Kid vi. 61 Old boys never could stand the leather. |
| (c) 1936 ‘R. Hyde’ Passport to Hell v. 86 It started off as a pretty little bout, though neither knew much about the leather. 1950 J. Dempsey Championship Fighting ii. 12 Meehan..threw so much leather and was so rugged that he and I broke even. |
3. Skin; now only
slang exc. spec., the skin on the ear-flap of a dog.
to lose leather; to suffer abrasion of skin. Also,
† a bag or pouch of skin.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 3451 Þan wete men neuere, wheþer ys wheþer, Þe ȝelughe wymple or þe leþer [glossed skyn]. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1360 Þe lyuer & þe lyȝtez, þe leþer of þe paunchez. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 269 Whanne a mannes bowels falliþ into his ballokis leþeris. c 1440 Jacob's Well 186 Whann she was deed, here frendys sowedyn [here] in hertys ledyr. c 1500 Melusine x. 41 As moche of grounde as the hyde or leder of a hert shall mow comprehende. 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. C ij b, How many maners of skynnes or lether are there... Two, one is entrynsyke or outforth, and that is proprely called lether. 1583 Stubbs Anat. Abus. i. (1879) 37 Did the Lord cloth our first parents in leather? 1726 Swift To Earl P-b-w Misc. 1735 V. 63 Returning sound in Limb and Wind, Except some Leather lost behind. 1807 Sir R. Wilson Jrnl. 15 May in Life (1862) II. vii. 214 Others came on slowly to save their horses and their native leather. 1883 G. Stables Our Friend the Dog vii. 60 Leather—the skin, generally applied to that of the ear. 1884 J. Colborne Hicks Pasha 50 Most of us, to use the hunting term, were ‘losing leather’ rapidly. 1952 C. L. B. Hubbard Pembrokeshire Corgi Handbk. 112 Leather, the skin on the ear flap. 1960 Times 2 Jan. 9/2 The ear leather of the workers [sc. spaniels] is shorter than in show specimens. 1968 H. Harmar Chihuahua Guide 240 Leather, the skin of the earflap. |
II. attrib. and
Comb. 4. simple attrib., passing into adj. a. Consisting or made of leather, or of a material resembling it.
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 117/3 Bulgæ, leþer⁓coddas. 1497 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 89 Leder bagges. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres v. iii. 134 Lether bagges or satchels, to cary powder behind men on horsebacke. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. v. 48 His cold thinne drinke out of his Leather Bottle. 1601 ― Jul. C. i. i. 7 Where is thy Leather Apron, and thy Rule? 1607 Tourneur Rev. Trag. ii. ii. Wks. 1878 II. 61 Lether-hindges to a dore. 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Improv. (1746) 146 Their Flesh is hardly digested of a weak Stomach, and their Leather Coat not easily of a strong. 1682 (title of song) The Leather Bottèl. 1862 Borrow Wild Wales (ed. 2) 67 Policemen..in their blue coats and leather hats. 1872 Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 159 Leather gloves, saddles and harness. |
b. Some combs. of the above type occur
attrib.| 1658 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. (1669) 91/2 A poor Leather⁓coat Christian will shame and catechize a hundred of them. 1665–6 Answ. Fr. Declar. War in Harl. Misc. II. 479 A fig for France, or any that accords With those Low⁓country leather-apron lords. 1723 True Briton No. 10. I. 85 When you..consented to use your utmost Efforts for chusing Two proper Sheriffs in Opposition to a Majority of Livery Men, and to stretch your Pocket among Leather-Apron Stentors. 1769 Dublin Merc. 16–19 Sept. 2/2 Chairs and settee..leather-bottom chairs. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 486 The so-called ‘leather-bottle stomach’. 1900 Everybody's Mag. III. 497/2 Wool cards—leather back implements set with wire teeth. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 14 June 8/3 A fire broke out in a leather goods manufactory. 1946 J. W. Waterer Leather xiii. 222 An..up-to-date manual of leather goods manufacture. 1971 D. Mackenzie Sleep is for the Rich vi. 196 A leathergoods store downtown stayed open during the lunch hour. |
5. General combs.
a. attributive as
leather-merchant,
leather-work; also
leather-hard,
leather-like adjs.| 1960 H. Powell Beginner's Bk. Pott. ii. 64 *Leather-hard, the condition of clay when it may be cut. Soap condition. 1967 M. Chandler Ceramics in Mod. World iv. 122 Each such blank, after partial drying to render it leather-hard, is turned on a semiautomatic lathe. 1971 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 12 Dec. 7/1 The pot and the slip have reached a stage which is known as leather-hard. This means the pot may be handled safely without risk of damage, but is still capable of receiving the indented design. |
| 1589 Warner Alb. Eng. vii. xxxvii. (1602) 182 My limber wings..were *Leather-like vnplum'de. 1776 E. M. da Costa Conchol. 121 A..toughish coriaceous or leather-like substance. 1851 Richardson Geol. (1855) 433 A soft, leather-like mouth, capable of protrusion and retraction. |
| 1861 Sat. Rev. 3 Aug. 114/1 Great *leather-merchants. |
| 1856 C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain i. xv. 143 Meta has been making a drawing for her papa, and is framing it in *leather work. 1870 Bryant Iliad I. vii. 222 Tychius, skilled beyond all other men In leather-work. 1906 Sanford & Phillips Art Crafts for Beginners (rev. ed.) vi. 137 The great popularity of leather-work among amateurs is due..to the fact that a small and inexpensive equipment is all that is required. 1971 H. Pluckrose Bk. of Crafts 53/2 In the past amateur leatherwork meant punching and thonging. |
b. objective, as
leather-cutter,
leather-dresser,
leather-dyer,
leather-gilder,
† leather-parer,
leather-sealer,
leather-seller,
leather-stainer,
leather-worker;
leather-cutting,
leather-dressing,
leather-stitching. Also in the names of implements used in the manufacture or preparation of leather: as
leather-polisher,
leather-softener,
leather-stretcher,
leather-stuffer.
| 1804 W. Tennant Ind. Recreat. II. 195 Chumars, or *leather cutters. 1889 T. Hardy Mayor Casterbr. iv, The class of objects displayed in the shop-windows, scythes..at the ironmongers..at the glover's and leather cutter's hedging-gloves [etc.]. |
| 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 220 Do you really..know..carpentering and *leather-cutting? |
| 1611 Cotgr., Megissier,..a Fellmonger, a *Leather-dresser. 1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. i. xxvi. 134 When the skins came in from the leather-dressers they were washed in a tub of cold water. |
| 1850 Rep. Comm. Patents 1849 (U.S.) 357, I claim the adjustable scraper..for the purposes and uses of *leather dressing. |
| c 1515 Cocke Lorell's B. 11 Pardoners, kynges benche gatherers, and *lether dyers. |
| 1692 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 566 Three clippers seized..one a *leather gilder. |
| 1725 Lond. Gaz. No. 6403/4 Joseph Woolley,.. *Leather-Pairer. |
| 1662 Public Rec. Colony of Connecticut (1850) I. 377 The *leath{supr} sealers..shal haue allowed vnto them for each Dicker of Leather they seale, 18d. 1798 I. Allen Nat. & Pol. Hist. Vermont 272 Weights and measures, leather sealers &c. are regulated according to law. |
| c 1515 Cocke Lorell's B. 9 Bokeler makers, dyers, and *lether sellers. 1847 Grote Greece ii. l. (1862) IV. 356 Kleon, the leather-seller. |
| 1825 Hone Everyday Bk. I. 515 Mr. Bailey,..*leather-stainer. |
| 1891 S. C. Scrivener Our Fields & Cities 53 Allotments for shoemakers to dig, after ten hours of *leather-stitching per diem. |
| 1891 E. Kinglake Australian at H. 81 The French *leather-workers have discovered the capabilities of their [kangaroos'] skins. |
c. instrumental, as
leather-bottomed,
leather-bound,
leather-coated,
leather-covered,
leather-faced,
leather-jacketed,
leather-lined (also
fig.),
leather-topped,
leather-upholstered adjs.| 1783 in E. Parkman Diary (1899) 298, 9 black chairs..five *leather bottomed Do. 1854 J. E. Cooke Virginia Comedians I. xxii. 127 A rude oaken table and some leather-bottomed chairs. |
| 1894 H. H. Gardener Unoff. Patriot 124 He reached up and took down a *leather-bound volume. |
| 1903 To-Day 4 Mar. 191/2 The implements consist of small *leather-coated balls and wooden hockey sticks about seven inches long, which are held as one would hold a pencil. |
| 1868 Rep. to Govt. U.S. Munitions War 102 A *leather-covered seat. |
| 1906 Westm. Gaz. 20 Nov. 4/2 Metal-to-metal clutches are..extending in favour at the expense of the old *leather-faced bone type. 1908 Ibid. 29 Dec. 4/1 The three-speed gear-box..to which the power is transmitted through the medium of a leatherfaced clutch. |
| 1916 Joyce Portrait of Artist ii. 81 There stood the stout *leatherjacketed vaulting horse. |
| 1846 W. H. Emory in Frémont & Emory Notes Trav. Calif. (1849) 22/2 The first mouthful brought the tears trickling down my cheeks, very much to the amusement of the spectators with their *leather-lined throats. It was red pepper, stuffed with minced meat. 1903 Work 18 July 382/1 The clutch..pulls the band (which.., is steel, leather-lined). 1913 W. Owen Let. 13 Nov. (1967) 211, 2 shirts (leather-lined extra). |
| 1911 O. Onions Widdershins 281 The large *leather-topped table. 1936 E. E. Evans-Pritchard in Ess. Social Anthropol. (1962) viii. 179 They were preceded in this romp through gardens and cultivations by a small boy beating on a leather-topped drum. 1965 G. McInnes Road to Gundagai vii. 119 Soft..armchairs and sofas, a big leather-topped desk. |
| 1923 F. L. Packard Four Stragglers ii. v. 183 Polly Wickes rose hastily from the..big *leather-upholstered Chesterfield. |
d. parasynthetic derivatives (often with similative meaning), as
leather-coated,
leather-complexioned,
leather-eared,
leather-faced (also
leather-face),
leather-jacketed (
cf. leather-jacket 5),
leather-legginged,
leather-lunged,
leather-skinned,
leather-winged,
adjs.| 1902 W. B. Yeats In Seven Woods (1903) 12 And *leather-coated men, with slings. |
| 1809 Malkin Gil Blas vii. xiii. (Rtldg.) 16 That little swarthy, *leather-complexioned Adonis. |
| 1682 Heraclitus Ridens No. 61 (1713) II. 128 Twelve *Leather-ear'd Disciples might have been found in the Vicinage. |
| 1884 ‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn xxviii. 287 You ain't one of these *leather-face people. I don't want no better book than what your face is. |
| 1919 W. Deeping Second Youth xv. 128 She let this *leather-faced old rascal flirt with her quite harmlessly. 1934 T. Wilder Heaven's my Destination 3 Brush..chose a seat beside a tall leather-faced man. |
| 1960 Economist 8 Oct. 149/1 Among the cartoonists Herblock has drawn Mr Khrushchev as a *leather-jacketed gang-leader. 1961 Encounter XVII. ii. 17/2 The leather-jacketed ‘Teddy Boy’ gangs of Western Germany. 1969 Daily Tel. 2 Sept. 1/3 South and East coast resorts were invaded yesterday by hundreds of leather-jacketed Rockers and teenagers in jeans and steel-tipped boots. 1973 J. Wainwright Pride of Pigs 114 The leather-jacketed, stocking-feeted Hell's Angel. |
| 1837 Dickens Pickw. xix, Here the *leather-leggined boy laughed very heartily. 1852 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 48 First comes a velveteen-jacketed, leather-legginged keeper. |
| 1846 W. P. Scargill Puritan's Grave 20 The ruder shoutings of the *leather-lunged rabble. |
| 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Improv. (1746) 304 The Provence Olives are..more *leather skin'd, yet better for the Stomach than the Spanish. 1896 B. M. Croker Village Tales 18 An active, leather-skinned man. |
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xii. 36 The *lether-winged batt, dayes enimy. |
6. Special combs.,
leather-back, a large marine soft-shelled turtle,
Dermochelys coriacea;
leather-bark, a tree of the genus
Thymelæa;
leather belting, machine belting made of leather; also
attrib.;
leather-board, a composition of leather scraps, paper, etc., glued together and rolled into sheets, used in shoemaking (Knight
Dict. Mech. 1875);
leather breeches (
beans)
U.S. dial., dried beans or dried bean-pods; beans that have been dried and then cooked in their shells;
leather-carp, a scaleless variety of the carp;
leather-cloth (also
leathercloth), cloth coated on one side with a waterproof varnish; also, a synthetic product simulating leather;
leather-coat, a name for russet apples, from the roughness of their skin;
leather-flower, a North-American climbing-plant (
Clematis Viorna) with thick leathery purplish sepals;
leather-head, (
a)
slang, a blockhead; (
b)
Austral. the friar-bird;
leather-headed a., stupid, slow-witted; hence
leatherheadedness;
leather-hungry,
† (
a) some variety of leather; (
b)
dial. skim-milk cheese;
leather-hunting Cricket slang (
cf. sense 2 c), fielding;
esp. a
colloq. term for fielding when the batsman is hitting out as freely as he likes; hence
leather-hunter;
† leather-kersner [
MHG. kürsenære, G.
kürschner skinner] a pelterer;
leather-leaf, a low evergreen shrub of the northern
U.S. (
Chamædaphne calyculata), with coriaceous leaves (
Treas. Bot. Suppl. 1874);
leather-man, a leather-seller;
leather medal orig. U.S., a medal made of leather instead of metal, sarcastically suggested as an award;
leather-mill (see
quot. 1727–52);
leather-mouthed a., having a leather-like mouth (see
quots.);
leather-paper, paper having a surface resembling that of leather;
leather-plant, a composite plant of the genus
Celmisia, a native of New Zealand (
Treas. Bot. Suppl. 1874);
Leather-Stocking, a North American frontiersman [from a character portrayed by J. F. Cooper]; also
attrib.;
leather-turtle = leather-back;
leather-wing, a name for a bat;
leather-wood, (
a) a North American shrub of the genus
Dirca, with a very tough bark; (
b) a Tasmanian wood of a pale reddish mahogany colour,
Eucryphia billardieri (Morris). Also
leather-jacket.
| 1855 Ogilvie Suppl., *Leather-back. 1880 Cassell's Nat. Hist. IV. 260 The Leather-back Turtles, whose carapace is not covered with scales of shell, but with a dense coriaceous skin. 1965 R. McKie Company of Animals xii. 168 On the beaches of Trengganu..the leatherback turtles lay their eggs. 1969 A. Bellairs Life of Reptiles I. ii. 41 The tendency nowadays is to regard the leatherback as a specialised descendant of turtles of more ‘ordinary’ type. |
| 1751 J. Bartram Observ. Trav. Pennsylv., etc. 28 Abundance of *leather-bark or thymelea, which is plentiful in all this part of the country. |
| a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 273/1 *Leather belting is ordinarily prepared in the following manner. 1877 Design & Work 9 June 23 (Advt.), Charles Churchill and Co., importers of American machinery and tools,..lathes, vices, planes,..American leather belting. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 6 Apr. 2/1 The exposure of the graft.. behind the duty on hides was made by tanners and shoe and leather-belting manufacturers. 1946 J. W. Waterer Leather 304 Included in its members are all the principal manufacturers of leather belting. Ibid., Persons engaged in or intending to engage in the leather belting trade. |
| 1913 H. Kephart Our Southern Highlanders 292 Beans dried in the pod, then boiled ‘hull and all’ are called *leather-breeches (this is not slang, but the regular name). 1941 J. Smiley Hash House Lingo 35 Leather breeches, dried kidney beans. 1943 R. Chase in B. A. Botkin Treas. S. Folklore (1949) 470 Such communal tasks as stringing beans for canning, or threading them up to make the dried pods known as ‘leather britches’. 1972 E. Wigginton Foxfire Bk. 15 He..dried leather Britches beans. Ibid. 167 Leather breeches beans... Take a string of dried green beans down, remove the thread, and drop them in a pot of scalding water. |
| 1880–4 F. Day Brit. Fishes II. 159 The *leather-carp, Cyprinus nudus, C. alepidotus, C. coriaceus, or C. nudus, in which scales are absent, but the skin is very much thickened. |
| 1857 Mech. Mag. 4 Apr. 321 A singularly close and valuable imitation [of leather] known as ‘Crockett's *Leather Cloth’. 1929 Publishers' Circular 18 May 621/3 A revolution has taken place in the world of leather by the introduction of the synthetic product leathercloth. 1937 Archit. Rev. LXXXI. 291/1 The manufacturers of cheaper cars began to use leathercloth as a finish over the normal rigid type of body construction and the snob-appeal of purpose-made bodies was lost. 1961 Times 30 May (I.C.I. Suppl.) p. viii/1 The original amalgamation brought together..dyestuffs, leather⁓cloth, paints and non-ferrous metals. 1973 Daily Tel. 21 Nov. 14/4 This test car was upholstered in a ventilated leathercloth. |
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. iii. 44 There is a dish of *Lether-coats for you. 1676 Worlidge Cyder (1691) 203, The Leather-Coat or Golden-Russeting, as some call it, is a very good Winter-Fruit. |
| 1866 Treas. Bot., *Leather-flower, Clematis Viorna. |
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, *Leather-head, a Thick-skull'd, Heavy-headed Fellow. 1847 L. Leichhardt Overland Exped. xiii. 461 The Leatherhead with its constantly changing call and whistling. 1860 G. Bennett Gatherings Nat. x. 233 Among the Honey-suckers is that singular-looking bird, the Leatherhead, or Bald-headed Friar (Tropidorhyncus corniculatus). |
| a 1668 Davenant News fr. Plymouth Wks. (1673) 20 What a *Leather-headed Dunce Am I, to ask thee. |
| 1876 ‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abr. (1880) I. 206 His *leather-headedness is the point I make against him. |
| 1478–9 Durh. Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 646 Sol. pro corrio de *ledderhungry, iiijs. 1530 Palsgr. 238/2 Lether hungrye, cvir bovlly. 1804 R. Anderson Cumberld. Ball. 103 Wi' scons, leather-hungry, and whusky. |
| 1944 Blunden Cricket Country i. 19 The laugh at the unfortunate ‘*leather-hunter’ on a hot chase. |
| 1865 J. Pycroft Cricketana xiii. 224, I like science more than swiping, and enjoy ‘fielding’, but not *leather hunting. 1886 G. Sutherland Australia xxvii. 178 Occasionally, in summer, there are days when..the pastime of ‘leather hunting’ becomes somewhat tiresome. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 19 June 7/1 The Westerners had a long day's leather hunting at Lord's yesterday. 1905 H. A. Vachell Hill xii. 254 And then, when his ‘eye’ is in, he will give the Etonians such leather-hunting as they never had before. 1934 W. J. Lewis Lang. Cricket 143 Leather-hunting, a jocular term for the exertions of the fieldsmen when the ball is hit freely to all parts of the field. 1970 Sunday Tel. 20 Dec. 21/7 The voracious Richards was in action once more and M.C.C. are assured of more leather-hunting today. |
| 1226 in Gilbert Hist. & Munic. Doc. Ireland (Rolls) 83 Reginaldus le *letherkersnere. |
| 1818 A. Eaton Man. Bot. (ed. 2) 173 Andromeda calyculata, *leather leaf. 1870 Amer. Naturalist IV. 217 The Leather Leaf (Cassandra calyculata), and Andromeda polifolia, are both worthy of attention. |
| 1831 J. Motte in A. H. Cole Charleston goes to Harvard (1940) 89 He must be a cute chap, and deserves to have a *leather medal. 1837 Harvardiana III. 147 (Th.), A leather medal his reward should be, A leather medal and an LL.D. 1860 Richmond (Virginia) Enquirer 20 Apr. 2/5 (Th.), The individual who conceived the leather medal idea [for identifying dogs] deserves a leather medal himself. 1889 Kansas City (Missouri) Times & Star 5 Dec., A leather medal..awaits the first misguided person this season writing it ‘Xmas’. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 750 He ought to get a leather medal with a putty rim for all the plans he invents. |
| 1624 in Gross Gild Merch. II. 12 There have hitherto been three Companies in the town, those of the Drapers, *Leathermen, and Firemen. |
| 1727–52 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Mill, *Leather-Mills are used to scour, and prepare with oil, the skins of stags, buffaloes, elks, bullocks, &c. to make what they call buff-leather, for the use of the soldiery. 1895 Outing (U.S.) XXVI. 362/1 There is also a flour and leather mill. |
| 1653 Walton Angler ii. 55 By a *leather mouthed fish, I mean such as have their teeth in their throat, as the Chub or Cheven, and so the Barbel [etc.]. 1757 Lisle Husbandry II. 155, I told him the ewes were leather-mouthed with thick lips. 1833 J. Rennie Alph. Angling 9 Such fishes as have teeth thus placed far back upon the palate and upper part of the throat while they want them in their jaws, are termed by anglers leather-mouthed. |
| 1890 Hosie W. China 153 That famous tough paper which..is wrongly called ‘*leather’ paper. The mistake is pardonable, for the character which means ‘leather’ also means ‘bark’. The paper is made from the fibrous inner bark of the Broussonetia papyrifera. |
| [1823 J. F. Cooper Pioneers I. i. 18 His limbs were guarded with long leggings of the same material as the moccasins, which gartering over the knees of his tarnished buck-skin breeches, had obtained for him, among the settlers, the nick name of *Leather-stocking.] Ibid. 11 The Leather-stocking has put his hounds into the hills this clear day. 1831 M. Holley Texas (1833) v. 43 The character of Leather Stocking, is not uncommon in Texas... The dress of these hunters is usually of deerskin. Hence the appropriate name Leather Stocking. Their generic name..is Frontiers-men. 1909 Daily Chron. 1 July 7/3 With most birds, you must make your approach with all the art of a leatherstocking. 1965 English Studies XLVI. 313 In this book Cooper draws repeated parallels between the Leather-stocking hero and Moses. |
| 1884 Goode, etc. Fish. Industr. U.S. i. 147 The so-called ‘*Leather Turtle’, or ‘Luth’, or ‘Trunk Turtle’. |
| 1851 Gosse Nat. in Jamaica 298 The little nimble *Leather-wings pursue their giddy play in security. |
| 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 317 *Leather-wood, Dirca. 1882 Garden 8 Apr. 232/3 The Leather-wood..now in flower, though not showy, is interesting. |
Add:
[I.] [2.] f. Clothing made wholly or partly of leather,
esp. when worn as part of a style of dressing intended to suggest strong masculinity (
orig. associated with bikers, and later with homosexuals); often with erotic or fetishistic overtones, and hence also used
euphem. of sado-masochistic desires or practices. See also sense *7 below.
| 1966 Realist May 19/3 Remember the S-M ads: ‘seeks discipline’, ‘seeks uniforms’, ‘seeks leather and rubber’. 1972 B. Rodgers Queens' Vernacular 124 When he takes his leather off he also removes his masculinity. 1985 J. Epstein in D. J. Enright Fair of Speech 69, I take it to be indisputably a euphemism..when it is said of a homosexual man who takes part in sado-masochistic activity that he is ‘into leather’. 1991 Pink Paper 30 Mar. 18/2 (Advt.), Attractive, passive, slim, exhibitionist guy, 30, likes minimal clothing, leather, toys. |
[II.] 7. Applied
attrib. to people who frequently wear leather clothing,
esp. (
orig.) bikers and (in later use) homosexuals, and to their subculture, meeting-places, etc.;
esp. in
leather bar,
leather boy,
leather man.
Cf. sense *2 f above.
| 1961 ‘E. George’ (title) The leather boys. 1966 Listener 3 Mar. 308/1 Flesh-eating ‘leather-boys’ (on their motor-bicycles)..wear a uniform; encased from head to foot in black leather, they may be individually..anonymous. 1977 Gay News 7 Apr. 20/2, I know leathermen are supposed to have fantasies, but I don't. 1978 Washington Post 4 Sept. b3/1 The Eagle, a ‘leather’ gay bar on Washington's Ninth Street NW. 1982 E. Gregersen Sexual Pract. xix. 292/3 Leather bars, now commonplace in large metropolitan centers in the United States, England and Germany, were unknown before the 1950s. 1986 P. Theroux O-Zone xxvii. 316 She saw someone being screamed at—another gang of leather boys howling at a cornered Asian. 1990 Gay Times Dec. (Centre Section) 11/1 Leather biker seeks active, dominant type,..straight looking mates..for raunchy times. 1991 Advocate 15 Jan. 10/3 A threatened picket by outraged leathermen and leather dykes. |
▪ II. leather, v. (
ˈlɛðə(r))
[f. leather n.] 1. trans. To cover or arm with leather.
| a 1225, c 1400 [see leathered ppl. a.]. 1564–5 Acc. in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) III. 362 For mending and newe lethering the Colledge Quisshens vs. a 1774 Goldsm. Surv. Exp. Philos. (1776) II. 52 The piston or sucker is leathered so tight as to fit the barrel exactly. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 27 The round holes of all caps are leathered. 1830 Alford in Life (1873) 51 Cleaned, new-leathered, and tuned the dining-room piano. 1850 F. Parks Wander. Pilgr. I. 135 My husband used to cut it up to leather the tips of billiard cues. |
2. To beat with a leathern thong; hence
gen. to beat, thrash.
| a 1625 Beaum. & Fl. Faithf. Friends ii. iii, I am mad,..I shall leather 'em. 1764 Foote Mayor of G. i. Wks. 1799 I. 174, I would so swinge and leather my lambkin. 1815 Sporting Mag. XLV. 161 Sam leather'd his man, and the mob were amazed. 1860 Geo. Eliot Mill on Fl. i. v, I gave Spouncer a black eye..that's what he got by wanting to leather me. 1882 Tennyson Promise of May ii. Wks. (1889) 793/1 I'd like to leather 'im black and blue. |
b. fig. intr. To work hard; with
away,
on.
| 1869 E. Farmer Scrap Bk. (ed. 6) 44 How they leather'd away at the job. 1893 Crockett Stickit Minister 239 So their minister simply kept leathering on at the fundamentals. |