Dictionary

pigskin en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /ˈpɪɡˌskɪn/

Etymology

Compound of pig + skin. The American football is a direct descendant of the ball used in the game of rugby. The rugby ball originally was made of a pig’s bladder with a leather cover; the earliest versions of the leather exterior sometimes were made of pigskin.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The skin of a pig.
   • In addition, most gelatins made today are produced from pigskins, which are not subject to this consideration. 2009, Zushe Yosef Blech, Kosher Food Production, page 318:
   • Adding a porky layer of fried skin not only gives heft and flavor to the snack menu, pigskin is just sort of fun to serve at football games. Pigskin is no longer a food best left to Southerners and late-night partiers. 2010 February 3, Kim Severson, “For the Big Game? Why, Pigskins”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Feb 2010:
2. (countable, uncountable) Leather made from the skin of a pig.
   • Those killed fighting his troops would be buried in pigskins. 2016, Robert Maddock, The 1,300 Years’ War: Volume One:
3. (US, countable, slang) A football.
   • “We gotta find those pigskins!” Squat insisted. “Pigskins?” Diddly asked. With obvious disdain, Squat replied, “Yeah, you know, that is what they call footballs, dummy.” 2011, J. H. Holland, Dsi: Diddly Squat Investigation, page 35:
   • To paraphrase a renowned pigskin philosopher, speed is not everything, it is the only thing. 1998, Kenneth Judd, Numerical Methods in Economics, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 29:
4. (countable, derogatory, ethnic, offensive, slur, uncountable, vulgar) A white person.
   • almost certainly some sex tourist pedophile pigskin living in vietnam 2026 April 1, @cuckedbyponzi, X (formerly Twitter):

Forms

Hyponyms

skin

Synonyms

cumskin · gridiron football ball · hoghide

Translations (11)

es piel de cerdo (leather made from the skin of a pig) · pt pele de porco (leather made from the skin of a pig) · nb svinelær (leather made from the skin of a pig) · tr domuz derisi (leather made from the skin of a pig) · mt ċingjal (leather made from the skin of a pig) · nl varkensleer (leather made from the skin of a pig) · ru свина́я ко́жа (leather made from the skin of a pig) · ga craiceann muice (leather made from the skin of a pig) · hsb swinjaca koža (leather made from the skin of a pig) · bg свинска кожа (leather made from the skin of a pig) · mt ċinjal (leather made from the skin of a pig)