leather

/ˈlɛðər/

/ˈlɛðə/

Other forms: leathers; leathered; leathering

Leather is a material that's made from animal skin and used to make shoes, bags, furniture covers, and many other things. You might be too hot if you wear your leather pants to the beach.

Most expensive, well-made shoes are made of leather — although it's pliable and easy to shape, it's also extremely strong and long-lasting. To make leather, the skin of an animal is stripped of all fur or hair, and then tanned, or treated to keep it from cracking and drying. The leather collars on early US Marines' uniforms led to their nickname being "leathernecks."

Definitions of leather

1. noun

   an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning
   types:

   piece of leather

   a separate part consisting of leather

   grain

   the side of leather from which the hair has been removed

   alligator

   leather made from alligator's hide

   buckskin

   a soft yellowish suede leather originally from deerskin but now usually from sheepskin

   buff

   a soft thick undyed leather from the skins of e.g. buffalo or oxen

   ooze leather

   a very soft leather made from the skins of calves and having a suede finish on the flesh side

   Russia leather

   a smooth leather tanned with willow, birch, or oak, and scented on the flesh side with birch oil

   calf, calfskin

   fine leather from the skin of a calf

   whit leather, white leather

   a leather that has been treated with alum and/or salt

   chammy, chammy leather, chamois, chamois leather, shammy, shammy leather

   a soft suede leather formerly from the skin of the chamois antelope but now from sheepskin

   cordovan

   a fine leather originally made in Cordoba, Spain

   cowhide, cowskin

   leather made from the hide of a cow

   crush, crushed leather

   leather that has had its grain pattern accentuated

   deerskin

   leather from the hide of a deer

   doeskin

   soft leather from deerskin or lambskin

   glove leather

   leather suitable for making gloves

   horsehide

   leather from the hide of a horse

   kid, kidskin

   soft smooth leather from the hide of a young goat

   mocha

   soft suede glove leather from goatskin

   morocco

   a soft pebble-grained leather made from goatskin; used for shoes and book bindings etc.

   patent leather

   leather with a hard glossy surface

   pigskin

   leather from the skin of swine

   fleece, sheepskin

   tanned skin of a sheep with the fleece left on; used for clothing

   shoe leather

   leather used to make shoes

   suede, suede leather

   leather with a napped surface

   roan

   a soft sheepskin leather that is colored and finished to resemble morocco; used in bookbinding

   counter, heel counter

   a piece of leather forming the back of a shoe or boot

   quarter

   piece of leather that comprises the part of a shoe or boot covering the heel and joining the vamp

   saddle

   a piece of leather across the instep of a shoe

   upper

   piece of leather or synthetic material that forms the part of a shoe or boot above the sole that encases the foot

   vamp

   piece of leather forming the front part of the upper of a shoe

   wash leather

   piece of chamois used for cleaning and polishing

   Levant, Levant morocco

   a heavy morocco often used in bookbinding

   Golden Fleece

   in Greek mythology, a fleece of gold owned by the king of Colchis and guarded in a sacred grove by a dragon; recovered by Jason and the Argonauts

   box calf

   black calfskin leather tanned with chromium salts

   type of:

   animal skin

   the outer covering of an animal
2. verb

   whip with a leather strap
   type of:

   flog, lash, lather, slash, strap, trounce, welt, whip

   beat severely with a whip or rod