pelt

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pelt1

▶verb

• 1 hurl missiles at.

• 2 (pelt down) (of rain, hail, or snow) fall very heavily.

• 3 run very quickly.

▶noun archaic an act of pelting.

– phrases
(at) full pelt as fast as possible.

– origin C15: of unknown origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pelt2

▶noun

• 1 the skin of an animal with the fur, wool, or hair still on it.

• 2 the raw skin of a sheep or goat, stripped and ready for tanning.

– origin ME: either from obs. pellet ‘skin’, from an OFr. dimin. of pel ‘skin’, from L. pellis ‘skin’, or a back-form. from peltry.