n. & v.
n. 1 a material made from the skin of an animal by tanning or a similar process. b (attrib.) made of leather. 2 a piece of leather for polishing with. 3 the leather part or parts of something. 4 sl. a cricket-ball or football. 5 (in pl.) leather clothes, esp. leggings, breeches, or clothes for wearing on a motor cycle. 6 a thong (stirrup-leather).
v.tr. 1 cover with leather. 2 polish or wipe with a leather. 3 beat, thrash (orig. with a leather thong). leather-jacket 1 Brit. a crane-fly grub with a tough skin. 2 any of various tough-skinned marine fish of the family Monacanthidae. leather-neck Naut. sl. a soldier or (esp. US) a marine (with reference to the leather stock formerly worn by them).
[ OE lether f. Gmc ]