資料來源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Leather \Leath"er\, n. [OE. lether, AS. le?er; akin to D. leder,
le[^e]r, G. leder, OHG. ledar, Icel. le?r, Sw. l["a]der, Dan.
l[ae]der.]
1. The skin of an animal, or some part of such skin, tanned,
tawed, or otherwise dressed for use; also, dressed hides,
collectively.
2. The skin. [Ironical or Sportive]
Note: Leather is much used adjectively in the sense of made
of, relating to, or like, leather.
{Leather board}, an imitation of sole leather, made of
leather scraps, rags, paper, etc.
{Leather carp} (Zo["o]l.), a variety of carp in which the
scales are all, or nearly all, absent. See Illust. under
{Carp}.
{Leather jacket}. (Zo["o]l.)
(a) A California carangoid fish ({Oligoplites saurus}).
(b) A trigger fish ({Balistes Carolinensis}).
{Leather flower} (Bot.), a climbing plant ({Clematis Viorna})
of the Middle and Southern States having thick, leathery
sepals of a purplish color.
{Leather leaf} (Bot.), a low shrub ({Cassandra calyculata}),
growing in Northern swamps, and having evergreen,
coriaceous, scurfy leaves.
{Leather plant} (Bot.), one or more New Zealand plants of the
composite genus {Celmisia}, which have white or buff
tomentose leaves.
{Leather turtle}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Leatherback}.
{Vegetable leather}.
(a) An imitation of leather made of cotton waste.
(b) Linen cloth coated with India rubber. --Ure.
Vegetable \Veg`e*ta*ble\, a. [F. v['e]g['e]table growing,
capable of growing, formerly also, as a noun, a vegetable,
from L. vegetabilis enlivening, from vegetare to enliven,
invigorate, quicken, vegetus enlivened, vigorous, active,
vegere to quicken, arouse, to be lively, akin to vigere to be
lively, to thrive, vigil watchful, awake, and probably to E.
wake, v. See {Vigil}, {Wake}, v.]
1. Of or pertaining to plants; having the nature of, or
produced by, plants; as, a vegetable nature; vegetable
growths, juices, etc.
Blooming ambrosial fruit Of vegetable gold.
--Milton.
2. Consisting of, or comprising, plants; as, the vegetable
kingdom.
{Vegetable alkali} (Chem.), an alkaloid.
{Vegetable brimstone}. (Bot.) See {Vegetable sulphur}, below.
{Vegetable butter} (Bot.), a name of several kinds of
concrete vegetable oil; as that produced by the Indian
butter tree, the African shea tree, and the {Pentadesma
butyracea}, a tree of the order {Guttifer[ae]}, also
African. Still another kind is pressed from the seeds of
cocoa ({Theobroma}).
{Vegetable flannel}, a textile material, manufactured in
Germany from pine-needle wool, a down or fiber obtained
from the leaves of the {Pinus sylvestris}.
{Vegetable ivory}. See {Ivory nut}, under {Ivory}.
{Vegetable jelly}. See {Pectin}.
{Vegetable kingdom}. (Nat. Hist.) See the last Phrase, below.
{Vegetable leather}.
(a) (Bot.) A shrubby West Indian spurge ({Euphorbia
punicea}), with leathery foliage and crimson bracts.
(b) See {Vegetable leather}, under {Leather}.
{Vegetable marrow} (Bot.), an egg-shaped gourd, commonly
eight to ten inches long. It is noted for the very tender
quality of its flesh, and is a favorite culinary vegetable
in England. It has been said to be of Persian origin, but
is now thought to have been derived from a form of the
American pumpkin.
{Vegetable oyster} (Bot.), the oyster plant. See under
{Oyster}.
{Vegetable parchment}, papyrine.
{Vegetable sheep} (Bot.), a white woolly plant ({Raoulia
eximia}) of New Zealand, which grows in the form of large
fleecy cushions on the mountains.
{Vegetable silk}, a cottonlike, fibrous material obtained
from the coating of the seeds of a Brazilian tree
({Chorisia speciosa}). It us used for various purposes, as
for stuffing, and the like, but is incapable of being spun
on account of a want of cohesion among the fibers.
{Vegetable sponge}. See 1st {Loof}.
{Vegetable sulphur}, the fine highly inflammable spores of
the club moss ({Lycopodium clavatum}); witch.
{Vegetable tallow}, a substance resembling tallow, obtained
from various plants; as, {Chinese vegetable tallow},
obtained from the seeds of the tallow tree. {Indian
vegetable tallow} is a name sometimes given to piney
tallow.
{Vegetable wax}, a waxy excretion on the leaves or fruits of
certain plants, as the bayberry.