hide is a) the outer covering of a mature or fully-grown animal of the larger kind; b) leather made from a); skin is the general term for the outer covering of an animal, in a more strict sense, the outer covering of an animal of the smaller kind, or of the immature animals of the larger species, in technical use the skins of the smaller animals (as sheep, calves, etc.) are distinguished from the hides of the larger (as oxen)