pelt

/pɛlt/noun, verb

pelt is spelled P-E-L-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,236th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pelt means “The skin of an animal with the hair or wool on; either a raw or undressed hide, or a skin preserved with the hair or wool on it (sometimes worn as a…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pelt is pelts.

How many letters and syllables are in pelt?

Letters	4: P-E-L-T
Syllables	1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing	about once in every 1 million words; the 33,236th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is pelt?

Pelt appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,236th most frequent word form in the list.

pelt0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce pelt?

US /pɛlt/

Pelt has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-pelt.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of pelt

pelts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
pelting participle, present
pelted participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does pelt mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

1
The skin of an animal with the hair or wool on; either a raw or undressed hide, or a skin preserved with the hair or wool on it (sometimes worn as a garment with minimal modification).
2
The skin of an animal (especially a goat or sheep) with the hair or wool removed, often in preparation for tanning.
3
The fur or hair of a living animal.
Near-synonym: coat
4
IrelandinformalHuman skin, especially when bare; also, a person's hair.
5
obsoleteA garment made from animal skins.
6
obsoleteThe body of any quarry killed by a hawk; also, a dead bird given to a hawk for food.
7
A beating or falling down of hailstones, rain, or snow in a shower.
8
A blow or stroke from something thrown.
9
A verbal insult; a jeer, a jibe, a taunt.
10
A fit of anger; an outburst, a rage.
11
An act of moving quickly; a rush.
12
ScotlandarchaicA tattered or worthless piece of clothing; a rag.
13
ScotlandarchaicAnything in a ragged and worthless state; rubbish, trash.
14
obsoleterareA small shield, especially one of an approximately elliptical form, or crescent-shaped.
15
obsoleterareA flat apothecium with no rim.

verb

1
To remove the skin from (an animal); to skin.
2
Chiefly followed by from: to remove (the skin) from an animal.
3
obsoleterareTo remove feathers from (a bird).
4
To bombard (someone or something) with missiles.
The children are pelting each other with snowballs.
5
To force (someone or something) to move using blows or the throwing of missiles.
6
Of a number of small objects (such as raindrops), or the sun's rays: to beat down or fall on (someone or something) in a shower.
7
Chiefly followed by at: to (continuously) throw (missiles) at.
The children pelted apples at us.
8
To repeatedly beat or hit (someone or something).
9
To assail (someone) with harsh words in speech or writing; to abuse, to insult.
10
Especially of hailstones, rain, or snow: to beat down or fall forcefully or heavily; to rain down.
It’s pelting down out there!
11
To move rapidly, especially in or on a conveyance.
I pelted across to where my family was sitting.
12
obsoleteTo bargain for a better deal; to haggle.