shoe-leather

adjective

shoe-leath·​er ˈshü-ˌle-t͟hər 

: involving or using basic, direct, or old-fashioned methods

shoe-leather journalism

Examples of shoe-leather in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But solving an outbreak still largely depends on shoe-leather detective work done by epidemiologists who follow up with each person confirmed to have a cyclospora infection. — Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 7 July 2026

But her strongest assets were her human instincts, her news judgment, her skilled interviewing techniques and shoe-leather reporting. — Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 July 2026

Barragán took an old-school shoe-leather approach to a very online subject, flying to Lagos to embed himself with a group of young, desperate grifters. — Carlos Barragán, Wired News, 1 June 2026

At its end, Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) finally rejects her Chanel boots for a daily journalist’s shoe-leather, a career move that, while not glamorous, was still financially viable. — Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 5 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1951, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for shoe-leather

• together
• aether
• gether
• heather
• leather
• nether
• tether
• weather
• wether
• whether
• altogether