leather
adj.
of or pertaining to leather; made of leather; resembling leather
n.
tanned and preserved animal skin from which the hair or fur has been removed; item made of tanned and preserved animal skin
v.
cover with leather; whip or beat with a leather strap (Slang)
Leather
Leather is a material created through the
tanning of
hides and
skins of
animals, primarily
cattlehide. The tanning process converts the
putrescible skin into a durable, long-lasting and versatile natural material for various uses.Leather is an important material with many uses. Together with
wood, leather formed the basis of much ancient
technology. The leather industry and the
fur industry are distinct industries that are differentiated by the importance of their raw materials. In the leather industry the raw materials are by-products of the
meat industry, with the meat having higher value than the skin. The fur industry uses raw materials that are higher in value than the meat and hence the meat is classified as a by-product.
Taxidermy also makes use of the skin of animals, but generally the head and part of the back are used. Hides and skins are also used in the manufacture of
glue and
gelatin.
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leather
Noun
1. an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning
(hypernym) animal skin
(hyponym) piece of leather
Leather
(v. t.)
To beat, as with a thong of leather.
(n.)
The skin.
(n.)
The skin of an animal, or some part of such skin, tanned, tawed, or otherwise dressed for use; also, dressed hides, collectively.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), edited by Noah Porter.
About
Leather, as a material during the 14th century
Before 1350, leather was a common material used to augment
mail defenses. The
vambraces ,
cuisses , and
greaves were reinforced with leather that might have been something like modern sole leather, sometimes boiled or painted with beeswax
(cuirboille) or sometimes simply shaped, and finished with something like lacquer. The chief piece of evidence are the
funerary brasses of knights from the period, but these brasses do not help us to determine whether the defenses were gamboised (quilted), leather, or something else.