the skin of an animal, with the hair removed, prepared for use by tanning or a similar process designed to preserve it against decay and make it pliable or supple when dry.
pertaining to, made of, or resembling leather: leather processing; leather upholstery.
5.
Slang. catering to or patronized by customers who typically wear leather clothing, often as a means of signaling interest in or preference for sadomasochistic sexual activity.
–verb (used with object)
6.
to cover or furnish with leather.
7.
Informal. to beat with a leather strap.
[Origin: bef. 1000; ME lether, OE lether- (in compounds); c. D, G leder, ON lethr, MIr lethar skin, leather, Welsh lledr, Middle Breton lezr leather]
The dressed or tanned hide of an animal, usually with the hair removed.
Any of various articles or parts made of dressed or tanned hide, such as a boot or strap.
The flap of a dog's ear.
tr.v.
leath·ered, leath·er·ing, leath·ers
To cover wholly or in part with the dressed or tanned hide of an animal.
Informal To beat with a strap made of hide.
adj.
Made of, relating to, or resembling dressed or tanned animal hide.
Slang Of, relating to, or patronized by people who dress in leather clothing primarily to indicate a preference for sadomasochistic sex: leather types; a leather bar.
[Middle English lether, from Old English lether- (as in letherhose, leather pants).]
O.E. leðer (in compounds only) "hide, skin, leather," from P.Gmc. *lethran (cf. O.N. leðr, O.Fris. lether, M.Du. leder, O.H.G. ledar, Ger. leder), from PIE *letrom (cf. O.Ir. lethar, Welsh lledr, Breton lezr). The word became synonymous with "sado-masochism" 1980s, having achieved that status in homosexual jargon in the 1970s. Leatherneck "U.S. Marine" is Navy slang first recorded 1914, from the leather collars of their early uniforms; earlier in British use (1890) as a sailor's term for a soldier.
Leath"er\, n. [OE. lether, AS. le?er; akin to D. leder, le[^e]r, G. leder, OHG. ledar, Icel. le?r, Sw. l["a]der, Dan. l[ae]der.]1. The skin of an animal, or some part of such skin, tanned, tawed, or otherwise dressed for use; also, dressed hides, collectively. 2. The skin. [Ironical or Sportive] Note: Leather is much used adjectively in the sense of made of, relating to, or like, leather. Leather board, an imitation of sole leather, made of leather scraps, rags, paper, etc. Leather carp (Zo["o]l.), a variety of carp in which the scales are all, or nearly all, absent. See Illust. under Carp. Leather jacket. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A California carangoid fish (Oligoplites saurus). (b) A trigger fish (Balistes Carolinensis). Leather flower (Bot.), a climbing plant (Clematis Viorna) of the Middle and Southern States having thick, leathery sepals of a purplish color. Leather leaf (Bot.), a low shrub (Cassandra calyculata), growing in Northern swamps, and having evergreen, coriaceous, scurfy leaves. Leather plant (Bot.), one or more New Zealand plants of the composite genus Celmisia, which have white or buff tomentose leaves. Leather turtle. (Zo["o]l.) See Leatherback. Vegetable leather. (a) An imitation of leather made of cotton waste. (b) Linen cloth coated with India rubber. --Ure.
a girdle of, worn by Elijah (2 Kings 1:8) and John the Baptist (Matt. 3:4). Leather was employed both for clothing (Num. 31:20; Heb. 11:37) and for writing upon. The trade of a tanner is mentioned (Acts 9:43; 10:6, 32). It was probably learned in Egypt.
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