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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)

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)

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

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

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

Peel Hunt keeps its adjusted pretax profit forecast at 324 million pounds for the year, but increases its EPS by 6% and 5% for 2026 and 2027 respectively.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 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

The Peel Hunt team led by Damindu Jayaweera said the memory chip market is in such a disarray that older chips, on the spot market, actually trade at 4 times newer versions.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 13, 2026

Peel Hunt reiterates its sell recommendation, but raises the stock’s target price to 24 pounds from 22 pounds.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 16, 2025

Peel and cut up three carrots and wash the lettuce.

From "Doing Time Online" by Jan Siebold