EXFOLIATE


Meaning of EXFOLIATE in English

ekˈsfōlēˌāt verb

Etymology: Late Latin exfoliatus, past participle of exfoliare to strip of leaves, from Latin ex- ex- (I) + -foliare (from folium leaf) — more at blade

transitive verb

1. : to cast or throw off from the surface in scales, laminae, or splinters

2. : to remove or take off the surface of in scales or laminae

3. : to open, spread, or extend by or as if by opening out leaves

in twenty-three chapters he exfoliates his program of moral transformation — O.L.Reiser

intransitive verb

1. : to split into or give off scales, laminae, or body cells especially from the surface

2. : to come off in a thin piece : scale or flake off

3. : to grow or develop by or as if by producing or unfolding leaves

criticism has exfoliated until the work of art is sometimes smothered beneath it — Malcolm Cowley

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.