peau de chamois

Meanings

1. 1noununcountablerare

   a soft, pliable leather made from the skin of a chamois or similar animal, used for polishing or drying

   Grammar: Uncountable when it means the material: 'made of peau de chamois'. It can be countable when it means a piece of this leather.

   Patterns

   • made of peau de chamois
   • a cloth of peau de chamois
   • clean something with peau de chamois

   The jeweler polished the silver with a piece of peau de chamois.

   This jacket is made of soft peau de chamois and feels like a second skin.

2. 2nouncountablerare

   a piece of soft leather used for drying or polishing surfaces, especially a car

   Grammar: Countable when it means one cloth or one piece: 'a peau de chamois', 'two peau de chamois'.

   Patterns

   • use a peau de chamois
   • dry something with a peau de chamois
   • a clean peau de chamois

   He dried the car with a peau de chamois to avoid water spots.

   Keep your peau de chamois in a dry place so it stays soft.

Word forms

Common combinations

a piece of peau de chamois

She cut a piece of peau de chamois to line the box.

clean something with peau de chamois

Clean the lenses with peau de chamois, not paper.

soft as peau de chamois

After washing, the fabric felt as soft as peau de chamois.

Synonyms and how they differ

chamois

The usual English short form; it can also mean the animal, while 'peau de chamois' refers only to the leather.

shammy

Informal and common in American English for the cleaning cloth, but it is not used for the animal.

leather

A general word for the material; 'peau de chamois' is a specific, very soft type.

Commonly confused: peau de chamois or chamois?

Practice

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