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Peel (p l), Sir Robert 1788-1850. British politician. As home secretary (1822-1827 and 1828-1830) he established the London police force (1829) and helped pass the Catholic Emancipation Act (1829). He later served as prime minister (1834-1835 and 1841-1846). |
peel 1 (p l)n.1. The skin or rind of certain fruits and vegetables. 2. A chemical peel. v. peeled, peel·ing, peels v.tr.1. To strip or cut away the skin, rind, or bark from; pare. 2. To strip away; pull off: peeled the label from the jar. v.intr.1. To lose or shed skin, bark, or other covering. 2. To come off in thin strips or pieces, as bark, skin, or paint: Her sunburned skin began to peel. 3. Slang To remove one's clothes; undress. Phrasal Verb: peel off1. To leave flight formation in order to land or make a dive. Used of an aircraft. 2. To leave or depart.
[From Middle English pilen, pelen, to peel, from Old French peler, and Old English pilian (both from Latin pil re, to deprive of hair, from pilus, hair) and from Old French pillier, to tug, pull, plunder (from Latin pilleum, felt cap).] |
peel 2 (p l)n.1. A long-handled, shovellike tool used by bakers to move bread or pastries into and out of an oven. 2. Printing A T-shaped pole used for hanging up freshly printed sheets of paper to dry.
[Middle English, from Old French pele, from Latin p la, spade, peel; see pag- in Indo-European roots.] |
peel 3 (p l)n. A fortified house or tower of a kind constructed in the borderland of Scotland and England in the 16th century.
[Middle English pel, stake, small castle, from Anglo-Norman, stockade, variant of Old French, stake, from Latin p lus; see pag- in Indo-European roots.] |
peel offvb (adverb)1. to remove or be removed by peeling 2. (intr) Slang to undress 3. (Engineering / Aeronautics) (intr) (of an aircraft) to turn away as by banking, and leave a formation 4. Slang to go away or cause to go away
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms | Verb | 1. | peel off - peel off the outer layer of somethingexfoliate - remove the surface, in scales or laminae | | 2. | peel off - take off, as with some difficulty; "He peeled off his blood-soaked shirt"take off - remove clothes; "take off your shirt--it's very hot in here" | | 3. | peel off - leave a formationair travel, aviation, air - travel via aircraft; "air travel involves too much waiting in airports"; "if you've time to spare go by air" | | 4. | peel off - come off in flakes or thin small pieces; "The paint in my house is peeling off" | | 5. | peel off - peel off in scales; "dry skin desquamates" |
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