a white, crystalline, water-insoluble solid, C14H9Cl5, usually derived from chloral by reaction with chlorobenzene in the presence of fuming sulfuric acid: used as an insecticide and as a scabicide and pediculicide: agricultural use prohibited in the U.S.

the estimation of something as valueless (encountered mainly as an example of one of the longest words in the English language).

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Collins

World English Dictionary

exfoliate (ɛksˈfəʊlɪˌeɪt)

—vb
1.	(tr) to wash (a part of the body) with a granular cosmetic preparation in order to remove dead cells from the skin's surface
2.	(of bark, skin, etc) to peel off in (layers, flakes, or scales)
3.	(intr) (of rocks or minerals) to shed the thin outermost layer because of weathering or heating
4.	(of some minerals, esp mica) to split or cause to split into thin flakes: a factory to exfoliate vermiculite

[C17: from Late Latin exfoliāre to strip off leaves, from Latin folium leaf]

exfoli'ation

—n

ex'foliative

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

exfoliation ex·fo·li·a·tion (ěks-fō'lē-ā'shən)
n.

Detachment and shedding of superficial cells of an epithelium or a tissue surface.
Scaling or desquamation of the horny layer of epidermis.
Loss of deciduous teeth following physiological loss of root structure.
Extrusion of permanent teeth as a result of disease or loss of opposing teeth.

ex·fo'li·ate' v.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage

Science Dictionary

exfoliation

(ěks-fō'lē-ā'shən) Pronunciation Key
The process in which layers of tissue peel or are peeled off an organism, such as the distinctive ways in which bark peels off a tree in strips or flakes.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia

exfoliation

separation of successive thin shells, or spalls, from massive rock such as granite or basalt; it is common in regions that have moderate rainfall. The thickness of individual sheet or plate may be from a few millimetres to a few metres.

Learn more about exfoliation with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Quote Of The Day

"Good writing is always a breaking of the soil, clearing away prejudices, pulling up of sour weeds of crooked thinking, stripping the turf so as to get at what is fertile beneath. It would be amusing to carry the simile further. Those bulbs that flower in the sand and wither! The gay fiction annual that has to be planted again every year! Those experimental plants from Russia, France, and Greenwich Village that are always getting winter killed—confound 'em!—is it worth while planting them again? The stocky perennial that keeps coming up and coming up—so easy to grow and so ugly. Scarlet sage that gives a touch of fiery sin to the edge of the suburbanite's concrete walk! And then the good flowers—as honest as they are beautiful! The well-ordered gar den! The climbing rose that escapes and is the most beautiful of all!"

-Henry Seidel Canby

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