hell for leather

A form of hell-for-leather — As fast as possible; recklessly fast.

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Meanings

adverbhell for leather (not comparable)
  1. not comparableuncommonLess common form of hell-for-leather

    It was one of the pleasures of the country to be able to ride hell for leather in the early morning... .

    1988, Emma Lange, The Cost of Honor, →ISBN, page 96
    3 more examples

    A few minutes later I was driving hell for leather to Parel, some six miles out of Bombay, where Colonel Liston was in charge of the government laboratory.

    1963, Frederick Barnardo, An Active Life, Bodley Head, page 194

    Of course, we were programmers, so we knew how hard it was, and what really impressed us was that this wasn't just smart programming, it was smart maths. Somebody had gone hell for leather making the absolute best that was possible.

    2003 October 18, Francis Spufford, “Masters of their universe”, in The Guardian

    When Alfie had breathlessly told him that Sarah had gone into labour and was on her way to hospital, he'd dropped the lead rein and headed back hell for leather.

    2004, Jennifer Marshall, The Christie Legacy, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 290
Cite this entry
APA

hell for leather. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell%20for%20leather

MLA

“hell for leather.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell%20for%20leather. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hell for leather,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell%20for%20leather.

Source: hell for leather on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.