to remove or be removed by peeling
slang (intr) to undress
(intr) (of an aircraft) to turn away as by banking, and leave a formation
slang to go away or cause to go away
Remove an outer layer of skin, bark, paint, or the like; also, come off in thin strips or pieces. For example, Peeling off birch bark can kill the tree , or Paint was peeling off the walls . [Late 1500s]
Remove or separate, as in Helen peeled off her gloves and got to work , or Al peeled off a ten-dollar bill and gave it to the driver . [First half of 1900s]
Also, peel away . Depart from a group, as in Ruth peeled off from the pack of runners and went down a back road . This expression originated in air force jargon during World War II and was used for an airplane or pilot that left flight formation, a sight that suggested the peeling of skin from a banana.
First recorded in 1935–40; adj. use of verb phrase peel off
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Raman would have to peel off labor from Bass, who has counted on and rewarded their support from Sacramento to Washington to City Hall for over two decades.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 9, 2026
As JPMorgan analyst John Stansel notes, the mechanics matter: If those accounts can be paired with low-premium, catastrophic-insurance plans, healthier people could peel off, hollowing out the exchange risk pools.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 23, 2025
The home side were on top and from a dominant scrum on the Leicester put-in, Vailanu was able to peel off the base and blast over.
From BBC • Apr. 5, 2025
After 1 a.m., my friends began to peel off, with work to do in the morning.
From Slate • Jan. 3, 2025
Slowly, I peel off the skin, which tastes tough and rubbery.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
