Definition of "pelage" []

• The coat of a mammal, consisting of hair, fur, wool, or other soft covering, as distinct from bare skin. (noun)
• Something felt to resemble the coat of a mammal: "The hardwoods were a soft pale green in the dark pelage of the conifers” ( Peter Matthiessen). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It's not surprising, then, that Ms. Prada, along with other designers known as much for their wit as their sartorial skills Isaac Mizrahi and Scott Sternberg, to name two have also made colorful wares in real pelage."
• "But, remember, the pelage must be of the long and shaggy variety."
• "The new species has several subtle morphological and phenotypic characters that distinguish it from its sibling species E. edwardii, the most striking of which is the presence of a tail-tuft, as well as the color of the flanks and the ventral pelage."