Definition

1. Verb (Intransitive):

   • To come off or separate from a surface in thin pieces or layers, often due to age, damage, or dryness.
   • To leave a moving group or formation, especially by turning away.

2. Verb (Transitive):

   • To remove an outer layer or covering from something by pulling or stripping it away.
   • To take off a piece of clothing, especially with some effort or difficulty.

Examples

• Intransitive Verb:

  • The old wallpaper has started to peel off the walls.
  • After the sunburn, my skin began to peel off.
  • One fighter jet peeled off from the squadron and headed back to base.

• Transitive Verb:

  • She carefully peeled off the label from the jar.
  • He peeled off his wet sweater after coming in from the rain.

Advanced Usage

• "peel off" (in finance/investing): To sell off assets or securities from a portfolio.

  • The company decided to peel off its underperforming divisions to focus on its core business.

• "peel off" (in motorsports): To leave the starting grid or a group of cars, often to enter the pits.

  • The leading car peeled off into the pit lane for a tire change.

Variants and Related Words

• Peel (verb): To remove the skin or outer layer from a fruit or vegetable.
  • Please peel the potatoes for the soup.
• Peeler (noun): A tool for removing the skin from fruits and vegetables.
• Peeling (noun): A strip of skin or rind that has been peeled off.
  • She put the orange peelings in the compost.

Synonyms

• Flake off: To come off in small, thin pieces (intransitive).
• Desquamate: A medical term for skin peeling off in scales.
• Strip off: To remove a layer or covering (transitive).
• Shed: To allow something to fall off or be cast off.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Peel away: Very similar to "peel off," meaning to remove a layer or to separate from a group.

  • You need to peel away the protective film before use.
  • Several runners peeled away from the main pack.

• Peel out (informal): To accelerate a vehicle rapidly so that the tires slip and screech.

  • He peeled out of the driveway, leaving skid marks.

Related Idioms

• Peel off the layers: To gradually reveal more complex details about a situation or a person's character.

  • The investigation began to peel off the layers of the complex fraud scheme.

• Peel off money (slang): To take out money, typically bills, from a roll or wad.

  • He peeled off a few twenties to pay for dinner.

Verb

1. peel off in scales
   • dry skin desquamates
2. come off in flakes or thin small pieces
   • The paint in my house is peeling off
3. leave a formation
4. take off, as with some difficulty
   • He peeled off his blood-soaked shirt
5. peel off the outer layer of something