pelt.
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).
Meaning & usage
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).
The skin of an animal (especially a goat or sheep) with the hair or wool removed, often in preparation for tanning.
The fur or hair of a living animal.
Human skin, especially when bare; also, a person's hair.
A garment made from animal skins.
The body of any quarry killed by a hawk; also, a dead bird given to a hawk for food.
Where this word comes from
The noun is inherited from Middle English pelt (“skin of a sheep, especially without the wool”); further etymology uncertain, possibly: * from Middle English pellet (“skin of an animal, especially a sheep”), from Anglo-Norman pelette, pellet, and Old French pelete, pelette (“thin layer, film, skin; epidermis; foreskin”), from pel (“skin; garment made of animal skin, pelisse”) (from Latin pellis (“animal skin, hide, pelt; leather; garment made of animal skin”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to cover; to wrap; hide; skin; cloth”)) + -ete (diminutive suffix); or * from Late Latin peletta, pelleta, pelletta (“skin of an animal, especially a sheep”). Related to fell, pilch, film. Also compare Old Norse feldr (“pelt”). The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates * Norwegian Bokmål pels (“fur; fur coat”) * Norwegian Nynorsk pels (“fur; fur coat”)
To remove the skin from (an animal); to skin.
Chiefly followed by from: to remove (the skin) from an animal.
To remove feathers from (a bird).
Where this word comes from
The noun is inherited from Middle English pelt (“skin of a sheep, especially without the wool”); further etymology uncertain, possibly: * from Middle English pellet (“skin of an animal, especially a sheep”), from Anglo-Norman pelette, pellet, and Old French pelete, pelette (“thin layer, film, skin; epidermis; foreskin”), from pel (“skin; garment made of animal skin, pelisse”) (from Latin pellis (“animal skin, hide, pelt; leather; garment made of animal skin”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to cover; to wrap; hide; skin; cloth”)) + -ete (diminutive suffix); or * from Late Latin peletta, pelleta, pelletta (“skin of an animal, especially a sheep”). Related to fell, pilch, film. Also compare Old Norse feldr (“pelt”). The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates * Norwegian Bokmål pels (“fur; fur coat”) * Norwegian Nynorsk pels (“fur; fur coat”)
To bombard (someone or something) with missiles.
The children are pelting each other with snowballs.
They pelted the attacking army with bullets.
To force (someone or something) to move using blows or the throwing of missiles.
Of a number of small objects (such as raindrops), or the sun's rays: to beat down or fall on (someone or something) in a shower.
Chiefly followed by at: to (continuously) throw (missiles) at.
The children pelted apples at us.
To repeatedly beat or hit (someone or something).
To assail (someone) with harsh words in speech or writing; to abuse, to insult.
Especially of hailstones, rain, or snow: to beat down or fall forcefully or heavily; to rain down.
It’s pelting down out there!
To move rapidly, especially in or on a conveyance.
I pelted across to where my family was sitting.
The bus went pelting down the hill.
Chiefly followed by at: to bombard someone or something with missiles continuously.
To throw out harsh words; to show anger.
Where this word comes from
The verb is derived from Late Middle English pelt, pelte; further origin uncertain, probably a variant of Late Middle English pilten (“to push, thrust; to strike; to cast down, humble; to incite, induce; to place, put; to extend, reach forward with”) [and other forms], possibly from Old English *pyltan, from Late Latin *pultiare, from Latin pultāre (“to beat, knock, strike”), the frequentative of pellere, the present active infinitive of pellō (“to drive, impel, propel, push; to hurl; to banish, eject, expel, thrust out; to beat, strike; to set in motion”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to beat; to drive, push”). The noun is derived from the verb.
A beating or falling down of hailstones, rain, or snow in a shower.
A blow or stroke from something thrown.
A verbal insult; a jeer, a jibe, a taunt.
A fit of anger; an outburst, a rage.
An act of moving quickly; a rush.
Where this word comes from
The verb is derived from Late Middle English pelt, pelte; further origin uncertain, probably a variant of Late Middle English pilten (“to push, thrust; to strike; to cast down, humble; to incite, induce; to place, put; to extend, reach forward with”) [and other forms], possibly from Old English *pyltan, from Late Latin *pultiare, from Latin pultāre (“to beat, knock, strike”), the frequentative of pellere, the present active infinitive of pellō (“to drive, impel, propel, push; to hurl; to banish, eject, expel, thrust out; to beat, strike; to set in motion”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to beat; to drive, push”). The noun is derived from the verb.
A tattered or worthless piece of clothing; a rag.
Anything in a ragged and worthless state; rubbish, trash.
Where this word comes from
Uncertain; possibly related to pelting (“mean, paltry”) (obsolete), peltry (“rubbish, trash; an unpleasant thing”) (chiefly Scotland, obsolete), and paltry (“of little value, trashy, trivial; contemptibly unimportant, despicable”), possibly from a Germanic language such as Middle Low German palte, palter (“cloth; rag, shred”), from Old Saxon *paltro, *palto (“cloth; rag”), from Proto-Germanic *paltrô, *paltô (“patch; rag, scrap”). The ultimate origin is uncertain, but the word is possibly a wanderwort from *polto- (“cloth”).
To bargain for a better deal; to haggle.
Where this word comes from
Uncertain; possibly related to palter (“to talk insincerely; to prevaricate or equivocate in speech or actions; to haggle; to babble, chatter; (rare) to trifle”), further etymology unknown. The Oxford English Dictionary takes the view that any relation to pelting (“mean, paltry”) (obsolete) and paltry (“of little value, trashy, trivial; contemptibly unimportant, despicable”) is unlikely.
Alternative form of pelta. A small shield, especially one of an approximately elliptical form, or crescent-shaped.
Alternative form of pelta. A flat apothecium with no rim.
Where this word comes from
A variant of pelta, borrowed from Latin pelta, from Ancient Greek πέλτη (péltē, “small crescent-shaped leather shield of Thracian design”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps either from Thracian, or ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to cover; to wrap; hide; skin; cloth”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.