Definition of PEEL

peel

Plural: peels

Noun

  • British politician (1788-1850)
  • the rind of a fruit or vegetable
  • The skin or outer layer of a fruit, vegetable, etc.
  • The action of peeling away from a formation.
  • A cosmetic preparation designed to remove dead skin or to exfoliate.
  • A stake.
  • A fence made of stakes; a stockade.
  • A small tower, fort, or castle; a keep.
  • A shovel or similar instrument, now especially a pole with a flat disc at the end used for removing pizza or loaves of bread from a baker's oven.
  • A T-shaped implement used by printers and bookbinders for hanging wet sheets of paper on lines or poles to dry.
  • The blade of an oar.
  • An equal or match; a draw.
  • A takeout which removes a stone from play as well as the delivered stone.
  • Alternative form of peal (“a small or young salmon”).

Verb

Verb Forms: peeled, peeling, peels

  • To strip off an outer layer or covering.
  • strip the skin off
  • come off in flakes or thin small pieces
    • "The paint in my house is peeling off"
  • get undressed
  • To remove the skin or outer covering of.
  • To remove something from the outer or top layer of.
  • To become detached, come away, especially in flakes or strips; to shed skin in such a way.
  • To remove one's clothing.
  • To move, separate (off or away).
  • To play a peel shot.
  • To send through a hoop (of a ball other than one's own).
  • To plunder; to pillage, rob.
  • Misspelling of peal (“to sound loudly”).

Examples

  • He watched his opponent PEEL off a layer of letters to reveal a high-scoring word beneath.
  • I had been out in the sun too long, and my nose was starting to peel.
  • I peeled (the skin from) a banana and ate it hungrily.
  • I sat by my sister's bed, peeling oranges for her.
  • The children peeled by the side of the lake and jumped in.
  • The scrum-half peeled off and made for the touchlines.
  • We peeled the old wallpaper off in strips where it was hanging loose.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English pelen, from Old English pilian and Old French peler, pellier; both from Latin pilō, pilāre (“to remove hair from, depilate”), from pilus (“hair”). Doublet of pill.

Synonyms

discase, disrobe, flake, flake off, pare, peel off, Robert Peel, Sir Robert Peel, skin, strip, strip down, uncase, unclothe, undress, rind, zest

Antonyms

dress

Scrabble Score: 6

peel: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
peel: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
peel: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 8

peel: valid Words With Friends Word