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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

An ode to imperfect fruit: Tangerines that are a breeze to peel.

From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026

Yet it was surprisingly complex: bright with lemon juice and fresh peel, nutty with almonds and Parmigiano Reggiano, savory with garlic and olive oil.

From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026

There are just so many ways to peel this onion.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026

One is mechanical stress, in which repeated contact with water droplets creates friction that slowly erodes a coating or causes pieces of it to peel away.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026

They taste like plum and lemon peel and salt.

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila

A giant scale model of Mars on display at Peel Cathedral for a Mars Society event.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

Together, the projects could add over $700 million to the group’s Ebitda, Peel Hunt analysts said in a note to clients.

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

In 2020, the post of Lord Chamberlain was held by Lord Peel, whom the BBC has contacted, but Buckingham Palace has responded on his behalf.

From BBC ● May 30, 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

This category includes Botox, fillers, chemical peels, dermabrasion, laser hair removal, nonsurgical fat reduction and skin tightening, and weight-loss medication such as GLP-1s.

From Slate ● Sep. 2, 2026

The solid, rectangular faces of pickleball paddles make them resemble pizza peels.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026

Bob Blumenfield would like to see Angelenos’ old banana peels and moldy bread stay local.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

The gray paint peels off the wall in odd and beautiful patterns, each cracked polygon of paint a snowflake of decay.

From "Paper Towns" by John Green

Indonesian villager Octavius wades through the forest in rubber boots and tattered joggers, ears pricked, eyes peeled, a telephoto lens on his phone primed to capture orangutans, monkeys or birds.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

This year the last thin layer of recourse peeled off.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

And then watching that kind of crumble, those layers are peeled apart based off of what happens to her and what she sees happen to her friends.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

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

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

He peeled it off and quickly began pulling on the day clothes he had left in a pile on the floor when he changed for bed.

From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda

The peeling facades, faded signs and cavernous auditoriums of such cinemas are remnants of a time when going to the movies was itself the main event.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

On Tuesday, a silver cross on a long chain hung from the pine tree’s bark, which was peeling and blackened from the blaze.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

The result was bubbling, blistering and peeling that appeared just weeks after the renovation was completed.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026

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

“And then… just…” Gingersnipes pulled slowly this time, successfully peeling a single, ripe blusher from the ground.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman