Definition of "jerkin" []

• A close-fitting, hip-length, collarless jacket having no sleeves but often extended shoulders, belted and worn over a doublet by men especially in the 16th century. (noun)
• A short, close-fitting, often sleeveless coat or jacket, usually of leather. (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.

• "The shade was too deep to make out his face, but Torak saw that like him, he wore a sleeveless buckskin jerkin and knee-length leggings, with light rawhide boots."
• "Over the jerkin was a leather harness of simple design'two straps across his shoul - ders, coming to the waist and attached to a broad belt whereupon hung his weapons-a sword, a dirk, long and sharp, and a holster containing his big, round-butted air-pistol."
• "The coat itself is what is called a jerkin; and as the buttons behind are half-way up his back, it is a matter of course that the tail, which runs rapidly to a point, is ludicrously scanty."