hide [OE] The hide meaning ‘the skin of an animal’ goes back far in prehistory to a root that also developed into Latin cutis ‘skin’ (the source of cuticle [LME]). A person who is hidebound [M16th] is unable or unwilling to change because of tradition or convention. The word originally referred to physical condition, first of cattle who were so badly fed or so sick that their skin clung close to their back and ribs, and then of emaciated people. The hide meaning ‘to put or keep out of sight’ is also Old English but unrelated. See also bushel. Someone who is on a hiding to nothing [E20th] is unlikely to succeed, or at least unlikely to gain much advantage if they do. The term apparently arose in the world of horse racing, when a trainer, owner, or jockey was expected to win easily and so could gain no credit from success but would be disgraced by failure. The word is the same as that in a good hiding [E19th], and means ‘a beating’—the idea is one of beating the hide or skin off someone. See also hundred.