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.
The team say that the pH-sensitive adhesive system could serve as a novel, and recyclable, middle ground between structural adhesives with fixed chemical bonds and peel-off adhesive films that bond using physical interactions.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 13, 2023
You can also have a peel-off backing to make your photo print a sticker.
From The Verge ● Jul. 31, 2022
But we all carry a stash of peel-off faces in our pockets, one for every occasion, just like Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 21, 2011
But that defiant-sounding message is printed on a peel-off sticker.
From Time Magazine Archive
Well," said he, after a comfortable pull at an expensive-looking cigar, "sixteen seventy-five is quite a lively little peel-off for a dinner for only two.
From Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise by Phillips, David Graham
But soon after completion of the work the coating has begun to peel off and algae turned the pool's water a mucky green -- setbacks the president blamed on vandals, without providing evidence.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
It had somehow learned to peel off the bottles’ lids and gulp the cream down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
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.
