peel

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   come off in flakes or thin small pieces

   The paint in my house is peeling off

2. 2
   verb

   To remove the skin or outer covering of.

   I sat by my sister's bed, peeling oranges for her.

3. 3
   verb

   To remove something from the outer or top layer of.

   I peeled (the skin from) a banana and ate it hungrily.

4. 4
   verb

   To become detached, come away, especially in flakes or strips; to shed skin in such a way.

   I had been out in the sun too long, and my nose was starting to peel.

5. 5
   verb

   To remove one's clothing.

   The children peeled by the side of the lake and jumped in.

6. 6
   verb

   To move, separate (off or away).

   The scrum-half peeled off and made for the touchlines.

7. 7
   noun

   A shovel or similar instrument, now especially a pole with a flat disc at the end used for removing pizza or loaves of bread from a baker's oven.

   Near-synonym: pizza paddle

8. 8
   verb

   To plunder; to pillage, rob.

   But govern ill the nations under yoke, / Peeling their provinces.

Etymology

From Middle English pelen, from Old English pilian and Old French peler, pellier; both from Latin pilō, pilāre (“to remove hair from, depilate”), from pilus (“hair”). Doublet of pill.