Meaning & use
pelt
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Meanings
nouncountable
The skin of an animal with its fur or hair still on it.
Grammar: Takes a plural: pelts; often animals trapped for fur.
Patterns
- a pelt of something
The trader bought beaver pelts from the hunters.
A wolf pelt hung on the cabin wall.
The pelt was soft and thick.
verbtransitive
To attack someone by throwing many things at them.
Grammar: Takes an object, often with with: pelt someone with snowballs.
Patterns
- pelt someone with something
The children pelted each other with snowballs.
Protesters pelted the stage with fruit.
The crowd pelted the car with eggs.
verbintransitive
Of rain or hail, to fall heavily and noisily.
Grammar: No object; often with down: the rain pelted down.
Patterns
- pelt down
Rain pelted down on the tin roof all night.
Hail pelted against the windows.
It was pelting outside so we stayed in.
verbintransitiveinformalBritish
To run very fast.
Grammar: Informal British; often with along or down.
Patterns
- pelt along
- pelt down the road
She pelted down the street to catch the bus.
The boys pelted across the field.
He pelted after the dog.
Word forms
| plural | pelts |
|---|---|
| third person singular | pelts |
| past tense | pelted |
| -ing form | pelting |
Common combinations
- fur pelt
- A fur pelt could fetch a good price.
- pelt with snowballs
- They pelted him with snowballs.
- pelt down
- The rain pelted down all afternoon.
- at full pelt
- The horse ran at full pelt.
- pelting rain
- We ran through the pelting rain.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hide
- Hide is the skin of a large animal, often tanned for leather, while pelt keeps its fur.
- fleece
- Fleece is the wool of a sheep, not a general animal skin.
- bombard
- Bombard is stronger and more formal for repeated attacks, with words or objects.
- pour
- Pour describes rain falling in large amounts but lacks the sense of striking noisily.
Word family
- peltry noun
- a collection of animal skins or the fur trade
- pelting noun
- the act of throwing many things at someone
Commonly confused: pelt or belt?
pelt vs belt
A belt is a strap worn around the waist, and it differs from pelt by one letter.
Practice
The rain began to ___ down so hard that we could not hear each other.
Choose one answer.
Pelt down means to fall heavily. The other options are real words but do not take down in this meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pelt”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.