DCHP-1 Online

skinner Slang

• 1 n. Hist. a teamster, so called because he figuratively skins his horses, mules, etc. with his whip.

  See also: mule-skinner  

  • 1910  The teamsters are called "skinners." I met them all on the log road.
  • 1953  The [stage] drivers, or "skinners," as they were called, wore coonskin coats with an eight-foot red sash, braided by Quebec habitants, tied around the waist.
  • 1954  A single line attached to the next leader's bit and passed back along the teams to the teamster or "skinner."

• 2 n. See catskinner (def. 1) 1947 quote.

  See also: catskinner (def. 1)  

  • 1958  In one day, a skinner can cut one mile of trail, three miles of trail or ten feet of trail depending entirely on what he hits.