Sekirov Dictionary

shoe-leather

UK /ˈʃuːˌlɛðə/US /ˈʃuːˌlɛðɚ/

noun 4
adjective 1
forms 2

noun4

•
Leather that is used to make shoes.
- Outside of patent leathers and specialties, I know of no other types of shoe leathers which are commanding replacement costs today. — 1922
•
Leather from which shoes are made that is worn out through walking.
- Save on shoe leather [letter title] […] Pounding the sidewalks can seriously wear you out. — 2011
•
The sweat of one's brow; effort; investigatory effort.
- They expended a lot of shoe-leather in hunting down every lead.
•
(disapproving, figurative) Tough meat, especially cheap meat.
- The school certainly wasn't breaking the bank by feeding us — when it wasn't gruel it was shoe-leather.

adjective1

•
Basic, old-fashioned or traditional; specifically (journalism) shoe-leather journalism or shoe-leather reporting: journalism involving walking from place to place observing things and speaking to people, rather than sitting indoors at a desk.
- Yes, old school, shoe-leather reporting uncovered the Watergate and Pentagon Papers scandals. But it was disturbingly ineffective during the McCarthy witch hunts and the US invasion of Iraq. — 2009

forms

shoe leathers · shoe-leathers

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