A worker who skins cats or processes cat fur, or historically, a person in a rough trade; sometimes used as slang for a mule driver in American frontier speech.
From 'cat' plus 'skinner' from Old English; a straightforward occupational term that evolved into frontier American slang, possibly because mule drivers were tough, rough workers.
Frontier slang is full of bizarre occupational terms—'catskinner' for mule driver makes as much sense as 'whip' for a fast driver today, proving slang works through weird leaps of association!
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