Definition

Noun 1. A durable and flexible material created by tanning animal rawhide and skins: This is the most common meaning. Leather is a material produced through the process of removing hair or wool and then treating (tanning) the skin to prevent decay. It is used to make various goods. - The jacket was made of high-quality leather. - She prefers a leather sofa to a fabric one.

Verb 1. (Informal) To beat or strike, especially with something made of leather: This usage is less common and often informal or slang. - The old-fashioned headmaster threatened to leather any boy who misbehaved.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The smell of new leather filled the car.
  • These boots are genuine leather, not synthetic.
  • He bound the book in fine leather.

• Verb:

  • (Informal) He said he'd leather me if I touched his bike again.

Advanced Usage

• "American leather": A term for oilcloth or imitation leather.
• "Leather and prunella": An idiom (from Alexander Pope) meaning the difference is only in outward appearance, that substance matters more than superficial qualities. (Prunella was a cheap, durable fabric for clerical gowns.)
  • To him, the distinction between the rich and the poor was merely leather and prunella.

Variants and Related Words

• Leathery (adjective): Having a tough, hard texture like leather.
  • The old sailor had a leathery face from years in the sun.
• Leathern (adjective, archaic): Made of leather.
  • He carried his tools in a leathern pouch.

Synonyms

• Noun: Hide, skin, suede.
• Verb: Thrash, whip, beat, lash.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• "Nothing like leather": A proverb meaning one always praises one's own wares or believes one's own methods are best. It originates from a fable where a man whose city was under siege boasted that leather armor was the best defense.
  • When the carpenter insisted on using only his favorite brand of tools, we joked it was a case of nothing like leather.
• "To lose leather": (Slang) To have skin scraped off; to get a graze.
• "To leather someone": (Phrasal verb, informal) To beat or thrash someone.

Noun

1. an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning

Verb

1. whip with a leather strap