Also 5 sole-, soollether, 7 soule-, 8 soal-, 9 sole leather. [f. SOLE sb.1 2 + LEATHER sb. Cf. Fris. soallear, Du. zoolleder, LG. sol-, sâlledder, G. sohlleder.]
1. Leather of a thick or strong kind used or suitable for the soles of boots, shoes, etc.
1408. Litt. Red Bk. Bristol (1900), II. 103. De faulx quyrs disloialment tannez ou correyez appelles Solelether et ouerlether.
1408. Nottingham Rec., II. 54. iij. pecias de soollether.
1647. N. Ward, Simp. Cobler, 32. I would … set on the best peece of Soule-leather I have.
1709. Phil. Trans., XXVII. 76. Of Substance not unlike to English Bend or Sole-Leather. Ibid. (1777), LXVIII. 117. The tanners of this country cannot make soal-leather in less time.
1842. Penny Cycl., XXIV. 39/2. The preparation of the thick hides used for sole-leather.
1885. H. M. Newhall in Harper’s Mag., Jan., 278/1. Sole-leather needs a heavier tannage than upper-leather.
b. attrib., as sole-leather brake, case, roller, etc.
1884. Knight, Dict. Mech., Suppl. 831/2. Sole Leather Roller, Stripper.
1892. Greener, Breech-Loader, 181. Sole-leather cases—that is to say, cases in which best leather is sewn to pine frames,… do well to carry guns in.
1897. S.-M. Beard, in Outing, XXX. 264/2. I pressed down hard on the sole-leather brake, stopping the reel entirely.
2. Bot. (See quot.) Also attrib.
1866. Treas. Bot., 1071/2. Sole-leather, or Sole-leather Kelp, a name given to the thicker Laminariæ, as L. digitata, bulbosa, &c., without particular reference to any individual species.
