peel

1
[ peel ]
See synonyms for peel on Thesaurus.com
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.

  1. Croquet. to cause (another player's ball) to go through a wicket.

verb (used without object)
  1. (of skin, bark, paint, etc.) to come off; become separated.

  2. to lose the skin, rind, bark, paint, etc.

  1. Informal. to undress.

  2. Metallurgy. (of a malleable iron casting) to lose, or tend to lose, the outer layer.

noun
  1. the skin or rind of a fruit, vegetable, etc.

  2. Metallurgy. the presence of a brittle outer layer on a malleable iron casting.

Verb Phrases
  1. peel off,

    • to remove (the skin, bark, etc.) or be removed: The old skin peeled off.

    • Aeronautics. to leave a flying formation of aircraft with a banking turn, usually from one end of an echelon.

    • Informal. to turn off or leave (a road): We peeled off the highway onto a dirt road.

    • to remove (clothing) in a swift upward or downward motion.

Idioms about peel

  1. keep one's eyes peeled, Informal. to watch closely or carefully; be alert: Keep your eyes peeled for a gas station.

Origin of peel

1
First recorded before 1100; Middle English pilen, pillen, pilien “to strip off, remove,” Old English pilian “to strip, skin” (unrecorded), or Old French pillier, peler, from Latin pilāre “to remove hair, pluck, scalp,” derivative of pilus “hair”; see pill2

synonym study For peel

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.

Other words from peel

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

Words that may be confused with peel

Other definitions for peel (2 of 4)

peel2
[ peel ]

noun
  1. a shovellike implement for putting bread, pies, etc., into the oven or taking them out.

  2. Metallurgy. a long, shovellike iron tool for charging an open-hearth furnace.

Origin of peel

2
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English pele, pale, pile “baker's shovel,” from Old French pele, pale, from Latin pāla “long-handled spade, shoulder blade”; see palette

Other definitions for peel (3 of 4)

peel3

or pele

[ peel ]

noun
  1. a small fortified tower for residence or for use during an attack, common in the border counties of England and Scotland in the 16th century.

Origin of peel

3
First recorded in1350–1400; Middle English pel, pele, peil “defensive palisade, fortress,” from Anglo-French pel, pele “stockade” and Middle French pel “stake,” from Latin pālus “stake, post”; see pale2, pole1

Other definitions for Peel (4 of 4)

Peel
[ peel ]

noun
  1. Sir Robert, 1788–1850, British political leader: founder of the London constabulary; prime minister 1834–35; 1841–46.

  2. a seaport on W Isle of Man: castle; resort.

  1. a river in N Yukon Territory and NW Northwest Territories, Canada, flowing E and N to the Mackenzie River. 425 miles (684 km) long.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for peel (1 of 4)

peel1

/ (piːl) /


verb
  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

  1. (intr) (of a surface) to lose its outer covering of paint, etc esp through weathering

  2. (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

  3. croquet to put (another player's ball) through a hoop or hoops

  4. keep one's eyes peeled or keep one's eyes skinned to watch vigilantly

noun
  1. the skin or rind of a fruit, etc

Origin of peel

1
Old English pilian to strip off the outer layer, from Latin pilāre to make bald, from pilus a hair

British Dictionary definitions for peel (2 of 4)

peel2

/ (piːl) /


noun
  1. a long-handled shovel used by bakers for moving bread, in an oven

Origin of peel

2
C14 pele, from Old French, from Latin pāla spade, from pangere to drive in; see palette

British Dictionary definitions for peel (3 of 4)

peel3

/ (piːl) /


noun
  1. (in Britain) a fortified tower of the 16th century on the borders between England and Scotland, built to withstand raids

Origin of peel

3
C14 (fence made of stakes): from Old French piel stake, from Latin pālus; see pale ², paling

British Dictionary definitions for Peel (4 of 4)

Peel

/ (piːl) /


noun
  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

Derived forms of Peel

  • Peelite, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with peel

peel

In addition to the idiom beginning with peel

  • peel off

also see:

  • keep one's eyes open (peeled)

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.