/ pelt; NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb
1.
[ vn ] pelt sb (with sth) to attack sb by throwing things at them :
The children pelted him with snowballs.
2.
[ v ] pelt (down) ( of rain ) to fall very heavily
3.
[ v + adv. / prep. ] ( informal ) to run somewhere very fast
SYN dash :
We pelted down the hill after the car.
■ noun
the skin of an animal, especially with the fur or hair still on it
•
IDIOMS
- (at) full pelt / tilt
••
WORD ORIGIN
verb late 15th cent.: of unknown origin.
noun Middle English : either from obsolete pellet skin , from an Old French diminutive of pel skin, from Latin pellis skin, or a back-formation from peltry .