pelts

Noun

pelt (plural pelts)

1. The skin of an animal with the hair or wool on; either a raw or undressed hide, or a skin preserved with the hair or wool on it (sometimes worn as a garment with minimal modification).
   • Perhaps the reason why he [a stuffed fox] seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too.1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], “The First Gun”, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 1
2. (also, figuratively) The skin of an animal (especially a goat or sheep) with the hair or wool removed, often in preparation for tanning.
3. The fur or hair of a living animal.
   • Near-synonym: coat

   Synonyms:

   coat

4. (Ireland, humorous, informal) Human skin, especially when bare; also, a person's hair.
   • Put on your dress, ye shameless witch, standin' there in your pelt I'll take a strap to, for havin' the conceit out of you, for by your idling had lost me the sup of gin to keep the breath of life in me. Cover your scut, or I'll welt the skin off it.1938, Norman Lindsay, chapter XVII, in Age of Consent, London: T[homas] Werner Laurie […], →OCLC, page 177
5. (obsolete) A garment made from animal skins.
6. (obsolete) The body of any quarry killed by a hawk; also, a dead bird given to a hawk for food.
   • If two [hawks] are flown they are certain to fell the game at once, and the falconer is always flurried by their violent propensity to crab over the "pelt."1852, Richard F[rancis] Burton, “A Day with the Bashah”, in Falconry in the Valley of the Indus, London: John Van Voorst, […], →OCLC, page 60

See all 30 meanings of pelt