/ piːl; NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb
1.
[ vn ] to take the skin off fruit, vegetables, etc. :
to peel an orange / a banana
Have you peeled the potatoes?
2.
peel (sth) away / off / back to remove a layer, covering, etc. from the surface of sth; to come off the surface of sth :
[ vn ]
Carefully peel away the lining paper.
[ v ]
The label will peel off if you soak it in water.
3.
[ v ] peel (off) ( of a covering ) to come off in strips or small pieces :
The wallpaper was beginning to peel.
4.
[ v ] ( of a surface ) to lose strips or small pieces of its covering :
Put on some cream to stop your nose from peeling.
The walls have begun to peel.
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IDIOMS
see eye noun
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PHRASAL VERBS
- peel off
- peel off | peel (sth) off
- peel out
■ noun
1.
[ U , C ] the thick skin of some fruits and vegetables :
orange / lemon peel
( NAmE also)
an orange / a lemon peel
—picture at grapefruit
—compare rind , skin , zest
2.
peels [ pl. ] ( NAmE ) = peelings
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (in the sense to plunder ): variant of dialect pill , from Latin pilare to strip hair from, from pilus hair. The differentiation of peel and pill may have been by association with the French verbs peler to peel and piller to pillage.