peel 1
— peelable , adj.
/peel/ , v.t.
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.
v.i.
4. (of skin, bark, paint, etc.) to come off; become separated.
5. to lose the skin, rind, bark, paint, etc.
6. Informal. to undress.
7. Metall. (of a malleable iron casting) to lose, or tend to lose, the outer layer.
8. keep one's eyes peeled , Informal. to watch closely or carefully; be alert: Keep your eyes peeled for a gas station.
9. peel off ,
a. to remove (the skin, bark, etc.) or be removed: The old skin peeled off.
b. Aeron. to leave a flying formation of aircraft with a banking turn, usually from one end of an echelon.
c. Informal. to turn off or leave (a road): We peeled off the highway onto a dirt road.
d. to remove (clothing) in a swift upward or downward motion.
n.
10. the skin or rind of a fruit, vegetable, etc.
11. Metall. the presence of a brittle outer layer on a malleable iron casting.
[ bef. 1100; ME pelen, OE pilian to strip, skin pilare to remove hair, deriv. of pilus hair. See PILL 2 ]
Syn. 1. 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.
peel 2
/peel/ , n.
1. a shovellike implement for putting bread, pies, etc., into the oven or taking them out.
2. Metall. a long, shovellike iron tool for charging an open-hearth furnace.
[ 1350-1400; ME pele pala spade. See PALETTE ]
peel 3
/peel/ , n.
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.
Also, pele .
[ 1250-1300; ME pele fortress pel stockade, MF pel stake palus stake. See PALE 2 ]