Also lamb’s skin.
1. a. The skin or hide of a lamb with the wool on. Proverbial phr. a wolf (or fox) in a lamb’s skin. b. The same dressed and used for clothing, for ornamentation of dress, for mats, etc. Often in collect. sing., denoting the material or fur so prepared.
a. 1366[?]. Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 229. A burnet cote … Furred with no menivere, But with a furre rough of here, Of lambeskinnes hevy and blake.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxv. (Julian), 506. For he resemblyt fore to be worthy and gud; bot ȝet he wykyt wolfe wes withine, & heylyt in a lameskine. Ibid., xxxi. (Eugenia), 378. He is wolf in lamskine hyd, & ful verray ypocrite.
1492. Ld. Treas. Acc. Scotl., I. 202. Item, for quhyte smal cotton lamskynnis to lyne this gowne.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xiii. 37. Sum in ane lamb skin is ane tod.
1562. Act 5 Eliz., c. 22 § 1. Yt shall not bee lawful … to pull, sheare, clippe, or take away the wool of anie sheepe skinne or lambe skinne.
1571. Satir. Poems Reform., xxix. 45. Schawing quhow, wolfis in lam skynis! þe puire scheip ȝe misgyde.
a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, II. (1622), 115. Like rich Tissew furd with Lambe-skins.
1603. Shaks., Meas. for M., III. ii. 9. A fur’d gowne to keepe him warme; and furd with Foxe and Lamb-skins too.
1682. Otway, Venice Preserved, I. i. Wks. 1727, II. 276. A Rogue that uses Beauty like a Lamb-skin, Barely to keep him warm.
1834. L. Ritchie, Wand. by Seine, 139. A kind of cloak … furred with lambskin.
2. Leather prepared from the skin of lambs.
1745. De Foe’s Eng. Tradesman, xxvi. (1841), I. 266. Her gloves, lambskin, from Berwick and Northumberland, or Scotland.
1899. Westm. Gaz., 1 June, 3/2. The volumes … are bound in limp lambskin, gilt lettered.
3. Woollen cloth made to resemble lambskin (Ogilvie).
† 4. punningly. A heavy blow. Obs. (Cf. LAMBSKIN v., LAM v.)
[1546. J. Heywood, Prov. (1867), 62. She must obey those lambs, or els a lamba skyn, Ye will prouyde for hir, to lap her in.]
1573. G. Harvey, Letter-bk. (Camden), 14. Les if you get ous within the half swurd you chaunc to give us the lamskin.
1600. S. Forman, Autobiog. (1849), 7. I did give her three or four lambskines with the yerd.
1622. R. Hawkins, Voy. S. Sea, xli. 97. I discovered their slynesse, and with a truncheon, which I had in mine hand, gaue the Indians three or foure good lamskinnes.
5. Mining. Anthracite slack, culm.
1873. Weale’s Dict. Terms (ed. 4), Lamb-skin, a name given to a variety of anthracite coal sold at Swansea.
6. attrib.: † lamb-skin-man (see quot.).
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Lamb-skin-men, the Judges of the several Courts.
