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• peel
  peel

  verb (used with object)

  to strip (something) of its skin, rind, bark, etc..
• Peel
  Peel

  noun

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

peel

¹ American  

[peel] / pil /

verb (used with object)

• peels,
  present (3rd person singular)
• peeled,
  past participle,  past
• peeling
  present participle

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.

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verb (used without object)

• peels,
  present (3rd person singular)
• peeled,
  past participle,  past
• peeling
  present participle

1. (of skin, bark, paint, etc.) to come off; become separated.

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

3. Informal. to undress.

4. 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 phrase

1. peel off

   1. to remove (the skin, bark, etc.) or be removed.

      The old skin peeled off.

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

   3. Informal. to turn off or leave (a road).

      We peeled off the highway onto a dirt road.

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

idioms

1. keep one's eyes peeled, to watch closely or carefully; be alert.

   Keep your eyes peeled for a gas station.

peel ² American  

[peel] / pil /

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.

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peel ³ American  

[peel] / pil /

Or pele

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.

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Peel ⁴ American  

[peel] / pil /

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.

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

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peel ¹ British  

/ 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

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. to watch vigilantly

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noun

1. the skin or rind of a fruit, etc

Peel ² British  

/ 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

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peel ³ British  

/ piːl /

noun

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

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peel ⁴ British  

/ piːl /

noun

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

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peel More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing peel

• keep one's eyes open (peeled)

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Synonym Usage

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 Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Peelite
  noun
• peelable
  adjective
• unpeelable
  adjective
• unpeeled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• peeling
  present
• peeled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• peel
  simple
• peels
  simple
• have peeled
  perfect
• has peeled
  perfect
• am peeling
  progressive
• are peeling
  progressive
• is peeling
  progressive
• have been peeling
  perfect progressive
• has been peeling
  perfect progressive

Past

• peeled
  simple
• had peeled
  perfect
• was peeling
  progressive
• were peeling
  progressive
• had been peeling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will peel
  simple
• will have peeled
  perfect
• will be peeling
  progressive
• will have been peeling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of peel¹

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 pill ²

Origin of peel²

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

Origin of peel³

First recorded in 1350–1400; 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 pale ², pole ¹

Explanation

A peel is the covering of a fruit or vegetable. Some peels are thick and easy to remove, like an orange peel, while others might be more stubborn, like the thin peel on a potato. When you remove an apple peel or the peel of an eggplant, you peel it. You can peel anything with a rind or skin, especially things you can eat, like shrimp and onions. There are non-edible things to peel, like stickers and old wallpaper too. You can also figuratively peel something: "I had to peel off my wet clothes and put dry ones on before I stopped shivering." The Latin root, pilare, means "to strip of hair."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

peel Peel peels peeled peeling

Thus, our heroes must peel themselves off from the couch and go on the run with their resentful felines Dio and GG bouncing along in backpacks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

It requires the assistance of two team-mates to eventually peel her off the ground.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

Ki and Park peel off, and I continue to walk south toward Tsim Sha Tsui, A long slog, enough to digest and think.

From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026

The $16 million project gained national attention when the pool bottom began to peel and algae blooms turned the pool from blue to green.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

He’s still standing on the sidewalk when we peel off.

From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas

Given the uptick is largely down to royalties and stronger local currencies, investors will likely shrug off the higher costs guidance, the Peel Hunt analysts said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Prepare the peaches: Peel the peaches, if desired, then remove the pits and roughly chop the fruit.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

Kershaw also joined BBC Radio 1 in the summer of 1985 - he was viewed by some as a potential successor to DJ John Peel.

From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026

Billed here as Nine Inch Noize, the pairing had experience on stages together, teaming up for the nightly middle third of Nails’ recent Peel It Back tour.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2026

Peel a few stars off the ceiling and slip those in too.

From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick

The film’s merit is not simply in how it illustrates the structures that bind and confine, but in how Wilde propulsively peels them apart to create a picture of romantic neuroses anyone can relate to.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026

“Age peels away the misconceptions. You become clearer about what you know to be true,” Fouther said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026

Young shoppers enamored with the “glass skin” look are snapping up serums, peels, gels and mists.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

“Let’s just hope he doesn’t slip on any ballroom banana peels, though, if he can dodge a fastball, he can handle a quickstep!”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026

His nails pull the baby hairs at my hairline as he peels back the rubber cap.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

After apparently topping off the tank, the Honda driver peeled off just as police arrived at the gas station.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

This year the last thin layer of recourse peeled off.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

"Eyes peeled," comes the order from the front passenger seat.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

And for the simplest possible showstopper, Frieda’s Hulas Ready-to-Drink Coconuts come peeled and prepped with a tool that lets you open them and insert a straw in seconds.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

I ran into the darkened street as Juanita peeled out.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall

BALTIMORE—With its boarded-up windows and peeling facade, the vacant building didn’t seem like the kind of house that would prompt a bidding war.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Telltale signs of water damage include discolored wall panels, black mold, cracking plaster or peeling paint, just to name a few.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

Within weeks of the renovation’s completion, numerous defects were spotted, with a liner installed on the bottom of the pool peeling in various places, and algae again infesting the water.

From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2026

Soon after reopening, however, visitors documented algae blooms, bubbling surfaces and peeling liner, prompting questions about the quality of the work.

From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026

She pooched out her cheeks and inspected the trunk, parched and peeling from the drought.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai