exfoliate
to throw off in scales, splinters, etc.
to remove the surface of (a bone, the skin, etc.) in scales or laminae.
to throw off scales or flakes; peel off in thin fragments: The bark of some trees exfoliates.
Geology.
to split or swell into a scaly aggregate, as certain minerals when heated.
to separate into rudely concentric layers or sheets, as certain rocks during weathering.
Medicine/Medical. to separate and come off in scales, as scaling skin or any structure separating in flakes.
Origin of exfoliate
1Other words from exfoliate
- ex·fo·li·a·tive [eks-foh-lee-ey-tiv, -uh-tiv], /ɛksˈfoʊ liˌeɪ tɪv, -ə tɪv/, adjective
Words Nearby exfoliate
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use exfoliate in a sentence
Because it’s easy to over-exfoliate at home, some dermatologists prefer in-office treatments, seeing the latter as a controlled burn compared with a wildfire.
Exfoliating isn’t necessary. But if you do it, follow the tips from these dermatologists. | Janna Mandell | April 12, 2021 | Washington PostWhile, again, exfoliating your body isn’t necessary, Hirsh said hands, feet and sometimes arms and legs can benefit from regular exfoliation.
Exfoliating isn’t necessary. But if you do it, follow the tips from these dermatologists. | Janna Mandell | April 12, 2021 | Washington Post“Our skin cells naturally exfoliate on their own,” said Chicago-based dermatologist Caroline Robinson.
Exfoliating isn’t necessary. But if you do it, follow the tips from these dermatologists. | Janna Mandell | April 12, 2021 | Washington PostWhen we exfoliate, we use hydroxy acids and enzymes to break the bonds that hold the cells together, which is what we don’t want.
Exfoliating isn’t necessary. But if you do it, follow the tips from these dermatologists. | Janna Mandell | April 12, 2021 | Washington PostThere is no soil, but those towels are contaminated with dead skin cells that the towel has exfoliated.
Hints From Heloise: Reader isn’t in the tank for tankless water heater | Heloise Heloise | March 25, 2021 | Washington Post
“I enjoy dating beardy blokes because you get to kiss and exfoliate at the same time,” she quips to The Daily Beast.
The loch having been drained away, we proceeded to exfoliate the crannog.
Trees. A Woodland Notebook | Herbert MaxwellA layer of the exposed surface of bone will probably exfoliate, and the wound granulate and become closed without further trouble.
A Treatise on Gunshot Wounds | Thomas Longmore
British Dictionary definitions for exfoliate
/ (ɛksˈfəʊlɪˌeɪt) /
(tr) to wash (a part of the body) with a granular cosmetic preparation in order to remove dead cells from the skin's surface
(of bark, skin, etc) to peel off in (layers, flakes, or scales)
(intr) (of rocks or minerals) to shed the thin outermost layer because of weathering or heating
(of some minerals, esp mica) to split or cause to split into thin flakes: a factory to exfoliate vermiculite
Origin of exfoliate
1Derived forms of exfoliate
- exfoliation, noun
- exfoliative, adjective
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
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