Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

peel

 - definition
Close

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

Close

Thesaurus

The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.

more
verb British English pronunciation: peel /piːl/ 
Word Forms
Close
present tense
I/you/we/theypeel
he/she/itpeels
present participlepeeling
past tensepeeled
past participlepeeled
  1. 1
    [transitive] to remove the skin from a fruit or vegetable

    First peel the potatoes and cut them in half.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  peelThesaurus entry for this meaning of peel
  2. 2
    [transitive] to remove something from the surface of something else, especially by taking one end or side and pulling it up
    peel something from something:

    He peeled a £50 note from a big roll of money.

    peel something off/away/back:

    To fasten the envelope first peel off the strip of paper along the edge.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  peelThesaurus entry for this meaning of peel
  3. 3
    [intransitive] if something peels, small pieces of it or of something covering it start to become separated from it

    The paint in the hall is beginning to peel.

    Her sunburn was so bad that her shoulders were peeling.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  peelThesaurus entry for this meaning of peel

phrasal verbs

See also

This is the British English definition of peel. View American English definition of peel.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

 

vocal fry

a speech habit in which a speaker lowers their voice at the end of a sentence

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day Word of the Day

glottal stop

a sound made by stopping air as it passes through your throat. In some varieties of spoken...

Open Dictionary

conflict mineral

a mineral which is mined in a place where there is armed conflict, and sold to help pay for weapons

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog