n.;
☞ The cuirass covered the body before and behind. It consisted of two parts, a breast- and backpiece of iron fastened together by means of straps and buckles or other like contrivances. It was originally, as the name imports, made of leather, but afterward of metal. Grose. [ 1913 Webster ]
a.
n. [ F. cuirassier. See Curass. ] (Mil.) A soldier armed with a cuirass; especially, a soldier of the heaviest cavalry, wearing a cuirass only when in full dress. Milton. [ 1913 Webster Webster 1913 Suppl. ]
‖ [ F. ] In decorative art, boiled leather, fitted by the process to receive impressed patterns, like those produced by chasing metal, and to retain the impression permanently. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]