leatherbritches

English

Alternative forms

• leather-britches, leather britches, shuck beans, shucky beans

Etymology

From a resemblance to leather britches or trousers once dried.

Noun

leatherbritches (uncountable)

1. (Appalachia) green beans strung on thread for drying and storage.
   • 1997, Charles Frazier, “The ground beneath her hands”, in Cold Mountain, New York: Atlantic:

     Sally sat on the porch threading beans on strings to make leatherbritches, and five long strings of pods already hung above her from the porch rafters to dry.

   • 2006, John van Willigen, Anne van Willigen, “Puttin’ Up the Garden”, in Food and Everyday Life on Kentucky Family Farms, 1920-1950, Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, pages 203-20:

     Beans that were strung and dried in the pod were called shuck beans, shucky beans, or leatherbritches (Clark 1998), depending on the region.