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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

If you find candied citrus peel, toss some in; if not, use the zest of a full orange.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

Anima Mundi’s “main cool down blend,” as she described it, contains lemongrass, hibiscus, peppermint and orange peel.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 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

“It didn’t peel off,” Burgum said during a July 5 CNN interview, insisting that vandals with boxcutters had caused the damage: “There were people literally trying to destroy part of the monument.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

Bits of it have begun to peel away, exposing pale patches of new bark underneath.

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish

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

Thirteen birds were discovered around Mill Road in Peel coated in an unknown orange substance and "smelling like fish oil", while "many more" had been spotted, Manx Wild Bird Aid said.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 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

“Yummy, but could I have mine tonight? Got to get back to Robert Peel and the Enlightened Whigs. Anyway, Thing has ruined my appetite.”

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

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

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026

The ground was strewn with food containers, plastic bottles, empty chip packets, orange peels and coffee cups.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026

Caporale also suggests swapping the traditional maraschino cherry garnish for something more elevated, like a braided twist of citrus peels.

From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2026

And Mr. Sklenar, who was in “It Ends with Us” but is a relatively fresh face at the movies, smartly underplays his increasingly pivotal role, from which he slowly peels back the layers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025

Then she peels them off one by one and lets them float to the doormat.

From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King

This year the last thin layer of recourse peeled off.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

As late as the 1800s, most commodities were cultivated: Cinnamon bark was peeled and rolled into quills, opium juiced from poppies, and tea leaves dried out in the sun.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Condensation had gathered beneath the lid, suggesting freshness, or at least recent contact with the natural world, but when I peeled it back there was a suspicious lack of smell.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026

After the pressure was released through the crack, emergency crews peeled back the tank’s external wall and insulation to pump water inside to cool it down.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2026

I tore off the paper wrapper and peeled back gold foil to reveal dark chocolate.

From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence

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

"The only difficulty is peeling them, but just cut the knobbly bit off and peel it separately."

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 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

“I did once I found it,” she says as she starts walking around the outer edge of the space, peeling off what look like curls of paper from some of the trees as she goes.

From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone