keep eyes peeled

peel

1 [peel]
verb (used with object)
1.
to strip (something) of its skin, rind, bark, etc.: to peel an orange.
2.
to strip (the skin, rind, bark, paint, etc.) from something: to peel paint from a car.
3.
Croquet. to cause (another player's ball) to go through a wicket.
verb (used without object)
4.
(of skin, bark, paint, etc.) to come off; become separated.
5.
to lose the skin, rind, bark, paint, etc.
6.
Informal. to undress.
7.
Metallurgy. (of a malleable iron casting) to lose, or tend to lose, the outer layer.
00:10
Keep eyes peeled is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
noun
8.
the skin or rind of a fruit, vegetable, etc.
9.
Metallurgy. the presence of a brittle outer layer on a malleable iron casting.
10.
peel off,
a.
to remove (the skin, bark, etc.) or be removed: The old skin peeled off.
b.
Aeronautics. to leave a flying formation of aircraft with a banking turn, usually from one end of an echelon.
c.
Informal. to turn off or leave (a road): We peeled off the highway onto a dirt road.
d.
to remove (clothing) in a swift upward or downward motion.
11.
keep one's eyes peeled, Informal. to watch closely or carefully; be alert: Keep your eyes peeled for a gas station.

Origin:
before 1100; Middle English pelen, Old English pilian to strip, skin < Latin pilāre to remove hair, derivative of pilus hair. See pill2

peel·a·ble, adjective
un·peel·a·ble, adjective
un·peeled, adjective


1. Peel, pare agree in meaning to remove the skin or rind from something. Peel means to pull or strip off the natural external covering or protection of something: to peel an orange, a potato. Pare is used of trimming off chips, flakes, or superficial parts from something, as well as of cutting off the skin or rind: to pare the nails; to pare a potato.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary
peel1 (piːl) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb
1.  (tr) to remove (the skin, rind, outer covering, etc) of (a fruit, egg, etc)
2.  (intr) (of paint, etc) to be removed from a surface, esp through weathering
3.  (intr) (of a surface) to lose its outer covering of paint, etc esp through weathering
4.  (intr) (of a person or part of the body) to shed skin in flakes or (of skin) to be shed in flakes, esp as a result of sunburn
5.  croquet to put (another player's ball) through a hoop or hoops
6.  keep one's eyes peeled, keep one's eyes skinned to watch vigilantly
 
n
7.  the skin or rind of a fruit, etc
 
[Old English pilian to strip off the outer layer, from Latin pilāre to make bald, from pilus a hair]

peel2 (piːl) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
a long-handled shovel used by bakers for moving bread, in an oven
 
[C14 pele, from Old French, from Latin pāla spade, from pangere to drive in; see palette]

peel3 (piːl) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
(in Britain) a fortified tower of the 16th century on the borders between England and Scotland, built to withstand raids
 
[C14 (fence made of stakes): from Old French piel stake, from Latin pālus; see pale², paling]

Peel (piːl) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  John, real name John Robert Parker Ravenscroft. 1939--2004, British broadcaster; presented his influential Radio 1 music programme (1967--2004) and Radio 4's Home Truths (1998--2004)
2.  Sir Robert. 1788--1850, British statesman; Conservative prime minister (1834--35; 1841--46). As Home Secretary (1828--30) he founded the Metropolitan Police and in his second ministry carried through a series of free-trade budgets culminating in the repeal of the Corn Laws (1846), which split the Tory party
 
'Peelite
 
n

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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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

peel
"to strip off," developed from O.E. pilian "to peel," and O.Fr. pillier, both from L. pilare "to strip of hair," from pilus "hair." Probably also infl. by L. pellis "skin, hide." The noun is 1583, from earlier pill, pile (1388), from the verb.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

peel definition


  1. in.
    to strip off one's clothing. : I had to peel for my physical examination.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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