pelt

¹ American  

[pelt] / pɛlt /

verb (used with object)

1. to attack or assail with repeated blows or with missiles.

2. to throw (missiles).

3. to drive by blows or missiles.

   The child pelted the cows home from the fields.

4. to assail vigorously with words, questions, etc.

5. to beat or rush against with repeated forceful blows.

   The wind and rain pelted the roofs and walls of the houses for four days.

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verb (used without object)

1. to strike blows; beat with force or violence.

2. to throw missiles.

3. to hurry.

4. to beat or pound unrelentingly.

   The wind, rain, and snow pelted against the castle walls.

5. to cast abuse.

noun

1. the act of pelting.

2. a vigorous stroke; whack.

3. a blow with something thrown.

4. speed.

   running at full pelt.

5. an unrelenting or repeated beating, as of rain or wind.

pelt ² American  

[pelt] / pɛlt /

noun

1. the untanned hide or skin of an animal.

2. Facetious. the human skin.

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idioms

1. in one's pelt, naked.

pelt ¹ British  

/ pɛlt /

verb

1. (tr) to throw (missiles) at (a person)

2. (tr) to hurl (insults) at (a person)

3. (intr; foll by along, over, etc) to move rapidly; hurry

4. to rain heavily

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noun

1. a blow

2. speed (esp in the phrase at full pelt )

pelt ² British  

/ pɛlt /

noun

1. the skin of a fur-bearing animal, such as a mink, esp when it has been removed from the carcass

2. the hide of an animal, stripped of hair and ready for tanning

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Related Words

See skin.

Other Word Forms

• pelter noun
• peltish adjective
• peltless adjective
• unpelted adjective

Etymology

Origin of pelt¹

First recorded in 1490–1500; Middle English pilten, pelten; further origin uncertain

Origin of pelt²

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English; perhaps back formation from peltry; compare Old French pelete, derivative of Latin pellis “skin”

Explanation

A pelt is an animal's skin, fur and all. If you are wearing a fur coat, you are really wearing a pelt (hate to break it to you). Another meaning of pelt is to throw something at someone — over and over again. Attacking armies might pelt the enemy with bombs, and there's always some kid in the back of an elementary school classroom who tries to pelt his classmates with spitballs. Either way, there is an attack or bombardment involved. If you dare to wear an animal pelt in front of an animal rights activist, you might just get pelted with a tomato.

Example Sentences

Japan's yukigassen federation emphasises the "mental challenge" posed by the game, in which players on both teams pelt their opponents while taking cover behind shelters.

From Barron's • Feb. 22, 2026

The weak atmosphere and magnetic field also allow carcinogenic cosmic radiation to pelt Mars’s surface: One day spent outdoors there equals about two years of radiation exposure on Earth.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 19, 2026

She said, “You were able to put your pelt back on. You’re spending more time in your seal suit.”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2025

By aiming above a wall, they could pelt the town behind it with beehives, scorpions, snakes, flaming pitch, rotten vermin, or excrement.

From Slate • Jul. 7, 2025

The hair on his head was as thick and oiled as an otter’s pelt.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

Related Words

• assail
• batter
• bombard
• hurl
• pepper
• pummel
• shower