Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The skin of a sheep either tanned with the fleece left on or in the form of leather or parchment.
- noun Informal A diploma.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The skin of a sheep; especially, such a skin dressed or preserved with the wool on, and used as a garment in many parts of Europe, as by peasants, shepherds, etc.
- noun Leather made from the skin of a sheep. See
sheep , 2. - noun A diploma, deed, or the like engrossed on parchment prepared from the skin of the sheep.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The skin of a sheep; or, leather prepared from it.
- noun College Cant A diploma; -- so called because usually written or printed on parchment prepared from the skin of the sheep.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun uncountable The
skin of asheep , especially when used to makeparchment or inbookbinding - noun US, countable A
diploma - noun countable The
tanned skin of a sheep with thefleece left on, especially when used forclothing ,rugs etc
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a document certifying the successful completion of a course of study
- noun tanned skin of a sheep with the fleece left on; used for clothing
- noun skin of a sheep or goat prepared for writing on
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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One would have thought that the rise in the value of a sheepskin from a 30% lifetime wage premium over a high-school diploma in 1975 to a 90% premium in 2005 would have called forth an extraordinary wave of public support and public funding for investment in education that would have pushed that premium down somewhat: lots more Americans should be getting a higher education now than were getting one in the mid-1970s.
Earth to Educators: People Hate School, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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Brad DeLong raises an important puzzle: One would have thought that the rise in the value of a sheepskin from a 30% lifetime wage premium over a high-school diploma in 1975 to a 90% premium in 2005 would have called ...
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It is a spirit which caused people to come to Canada from every comer of the globe -- the English, the French, the men in sheepskin coats, the boat people.
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The three guides were dressed in sheepskin, and had extra pulu gowns for use in storms to protect themselves from rain and hail.
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January, muffled in sheepskin coat and cap, receives his bags, and goes forth alone on his terrible journey of nearly
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What both design styles have in common is a cold heritage and, as a result, a love of warm materials like sheepskin, which is now appearing as upholstery.
Taking Chalet Chic to the City Helen Kirwan-Taylor 2011
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In order to get your diploma, one of the things you have to suffer through in order to get the sheepskin is the graduation speech.
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Even in summer the sun is none too hot on this hill-top; and a sheepskin is a garment one must be used to, it appears.
In and out of Three Normady Inns Anna Bowman Dodd
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It comes from the sheepskin, which is worked in, slept in, and, what is more, often inherited from a parent who had also worn it as his winter hide.
Woman as Decoration Emily Burbank
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Although this factory was known as the sheepskin tannery they soon found that the skins of lambs, kids, and goats were also tanned and finished there.
The Story of Leather Sara Ware Bassett 1920
yarb commented on the word sheepskin
Suddenly the young man became aware that she was comatose on the sheepskin cover.
- Peter Reading, C, 1984
August 2, 2008