▪ I. peel, n.1
(piːl)
Forms: 4–5 pel, (4 peyl), 4– pele, (5 pell, -e), 5–6 Sc. peill, -e, (peyll), 6 Sc. peil, (piel, paile), 6–7 peele, 4, 8– peel.
[Known a 1300 in latinized form pēlum (later sometimes pēla), in AF. pel, piel, in 14th c. ME. pel, pele, whence 15–16th c. Sc. peil. In sense 1 = OF. pel, piel (mod. F. pieu) stake:—L. pāl-us, pāl-um stake. The development of sense 2 is parallel to that of the cognate pale n.1; that of senses 3 and 4 is more obscure, but cf. the synonymous pile.
For a detailed historical examination of the word, see Peel: its Meaning and Derivation, by Geo. Neilson F.S.A. Scot. 1893.]
† 1. A stake. [The usual sense in OF.] Obs. rare.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 2120 He ȝede and clambe vpp on a pele [v.rr. pel, peyl; rime eche dele; F. encuntre vn pel se addrescé], And hyng þeron by þe hond. Ibid. 2166 Þou art a-cursed, þou woste weyl, And hange were wurþy on a peyl. c 1330 ― Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4611 Longe pyles [MS. Petyt peeles; Wace peus ferrés] & grete dide þey make; Faste yn Temese dide þey hem stake, Euerylkon wyþ iren schod. Ibid. 4637 Iren-schod was ilka peel [rime ilka del]. |
† 2. A palisade or fence formed of stakes; a stockade; a stockaded or palisaded (and moated) enclosure, either as the outer court of a castle, or as an independent fort or defensible position. Obs.
| [1298–9 Accts. in Jos. Stevenson Hist. Docum. Scotl. II. 361 Pro vadiis xlviij operariorum venientium de Westmerland et Cumberland..usque Loghmaban..ad faciendum pelum ibidem... Et pro vadiis [iv sarratorum] euntium apud Loghmaban ad sarranda ligna pro constructione peli ibidem per ij dies... Et pro vadiis carpentariorum missorum apud Loghmaban..pro factura peli ibidem per ij dies. 1299 Let. Pat. Edw. I, Ibid. II. 404 Ad ordinandum et providendum de secura custodia clausi extra castrum de Loghmaban palitio firmati. 1300 Indenture 2 Jan., Ibid. 408 Et qe les meisons quil [Robert de Clifford] ad fait en le piel de Loghmaban lui demoergent pur luy et pur ses gentz. 1300 (Sept.) Liber Quotidianus Contrarot. Garderobæ 165 Carpentariis facientibus pelum in foresta de Ingelwoode assidendum circa castrum de Dumfres. 1300 (Oct.) Letter fr. Edward I Stevenson II. 296 Cest a savoir, que nostre seignour le roi est ale a Dounfries pour lever son pel e efforcer le chastel. 1301 Let. fr. R. de Tilliol gardeyn de Lougchmaban to Edw. I 10 Sept. in Stevenson II. 432 Sachez, sire, qe..sire Johane de Soules, sire Ingram de Humframville..nous ardyrent nostre vile et assalyrent nostre pele demyway prime dekes a houre de noune. c 1430 Fordun & Bower Scotichr. xii. i. (1759) 220 Hoc in anno [1301] municipium de Linlithgw, quod Anglicè Pele vocatur, per regem Angliæ constructum est.] |
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 15912 Ful baldely & stille Dide he vitaille þe toun ful wel, Defensable wyþ bretaxes & pel. ― Chron. (1810) 157 Þe Romancer it sais, R[ichard] did mak a pele, On kastelle wise alle wais, wrouht of tre fulle welle. 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 137 And at lythkow ves than a peill, Mekill, and stark, and stuffit weill Vith ynglis men. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. 6141 The Pele..off Lyddale. c 1470 Henry Wallace ix. 1693 The peyll thai tuk, and slew that was tharin. 1528 St. Papers Hen. VIII, IV. 492 One strong pele of ill Will Armistraunges, buylded aftur siche maner that it couth not be brynt ne distroyed, unto it was cut downe with axes. 1535 Sc. Acts Jas. V (1814) II. 346 That euery landit man duelland in þe Inland or vpon þe bordouris, havand þare ane hundreth pund land..sall big ane sufficient barmkyn apoun his..landis..of Stane and lyme..for þe Ressett and defens of him his tennentis and þer gudis in trublous tyme w{supt} ane toure in the samin for him self gif he thinkis it expedient: And þat all vther landit men of smallar Rent..big pelis and gret strenthis as þai ples for saifing of þare selfis men tennentis and gudis: And þat all the saidis strenthis barmkynnis and pelis be biggit and completit within twa yeris vnder þe pane. 1579 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 236 For pulling doun of a peill of the said George Chaleris..and sta and awaytuke xl ky and oxin. 1589 in Exch. Rolls Scotl. XXII. 25 The fewmailis of the park and peil of Linlithquew. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. i. 98 Bot thay far starker do make, four nuiked, of earth only, quhilke nathir can be burnte, nor w{supt}out a gret force of men of weir doune can be castne..thir ar thair pailes. |
† 3. A castle; esp. a small castle or tower; = pile n.2 Obs. (app. only in English writers.)
| c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 220, I gan to romen til I fonde The castel yate on my ryght honde... Ther mette I cryinge many oon, A larges, larges, hald vp wel, God saue the lady of thys pel. 1483 Cath. Angl. 273/2 A Peille..A castelle. 1573 Churchyard in Nichols Progr. Q. Eliz. (1823) I. 399 A littell Bastillion, builded on a hil..to the which piel the soulders of the main fort did repayre. 1679 [see pile n.2]. |
4. The general name, in modern writers, for the small towers or fortified dwellings built in the 16th c. in the border countries of England and Scotland, for defence against hostile forays; consisting of a massive square edifice, the ground-floor of which was vaulted, and used as a shelter or refuge for cattle, while the upper part (the access to which was by a door on the level of the first floor, with external ladder or movable stair) was the abode of the owner and his family.
(In this sense, probably orig. short for peel-house (see 6), i.e. house defended by a peel (in sense 2). But the name is now applied in many cases in which it has no historical support.) It is evidently akin to sense 3.
| 1726 Gordon Itin. Septent. 54 At this Town [Kirkintilloch] there is another Fort upon the Wall, called the Peel. 1792 Archæologia X. 102 This kind of building was called in Scotland a peel, and in England, a keep or dungeon. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. i. xxv, He passed the Peel of Goldiland. Ibid. iv. iii, The frightened flocks and herds were pent Beneath the peel's rude battlement. 1846 Brockett N.C. Gloss. II. 69 The ‘peel’ was a square tower strongly fortified, where cattle were secured in the bottom story at night, and the family occupied the upper part. 1882 J. Hardy in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club IX. No. 3. 425 The mansion..is an adaptation..of an old fortified peel to modern requirements. 1888 W. W. Tomlinson Comprehensive Guide Northumberland 156 Jutting crags..and lofty precipices, constitute the natural defences of the pele on three sides. 1894 R. S. Ferguson Westmorland xviii. 280 These peels..are small and massively built towers of stone, with high-pitched roofs of slate. 1921 P. S. Allen Let. 21 Sept. (1939) 180 It is built out of the Prior's Lodgings, and includes a regular ‘pele tower’ such as line the Border: low towers with immensely thick walls—this one 7 ft. thick at the bottom, but with mural chambers and staircases. 1964 Dumfries & Galloway Standard 8 July 7, The lost Dalswinton, Conggleton and Wigtown, the pele at Lochmaben are a story in themselves. 1973 Fedden & Joekes National Trust Guide 656 Pele, pele tower, a small or moderate-sized tower or keep which is easily defended. Peculiar to houses or castles on both sides of the Scottish border. Generally built between the 13th and 15th centuries. |
5. Hence, the proper name of a place in the Isle of Man. (Cf. Castletown in the same island.)
| [1399 Charter of Hen. IV in Rymer Fœdera VIII. 95/1 Concessimus eidem Comiti Northumbriæ Insulam, Castrum, Pelam, et Dominium de Man.] a 1718 in Keble Life Bp. Wilson vi. (1863) 199 The Ordinary hath used to send for aid unto the Constable of the Castle, or of the Peel. 1765 Act 5 Geo. III, c. 26 Preamble, All the islands, castle, pele, and lordship aforesaid. |
6. attrib., as peel-dike, the wall or rampart of a peel; peel-house, -tower = sense 4.
| 1505 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. III. 84 To bigging of the peil dikis of Linlithqw. 1586 Reg. Privy Council Scot. IV. 106 Ane peill house, with byre, hall and berne. 1814 Scott Wav. xli, Had you put this gentleman into the pit of the peel-house at Balmawhapple. 1851 Turner Dom. Archit. I. i. 11 In the border countries these towers, commonly called Pele towers, are very usual. 1856 J. C. Bruce Bayeux Tap. Elucidated ii. 36 The ancient ‘peel houses’ of the North of England. 1874 Hare Story of my Life (1900) IV. xvii. 258 An occasional peel-tower stands like a milestone of history. 1935 Hist. Northumberland XIV. 79 This [sc. Henry VIII to Charles I] forms a continuously evolving period, at first characterised by the erection of pele towers and bastle houses. 1965 N. Ridley Portrait of Northumberland 21 Scattered over wide areas of Northumberland are the Pele towers... These Pele towers were fortified dwellings, where the cattle could be driven into the ground floor rooms, to protect them from the Reivers and Moss Troopers. 1973 Fedden & Joekes National Trust Guide 325 Consequently a wide area is studded with massive pele towers, commonly with a vaulted chamber on the ground floor into which cattle might be driven at the first warning of raiders, and upper storeys arranged for human occupation. 1980 Historic Houses, Castles & Gardens 48/3 Hutton-in-the-Forest..14th cent. Pele Tower with later additions. |
▪ II. peel, n.2
(piːl)
Forms: 4–7 pele, 5–7 peele, 5– peel, (6 piele, 6–7 peale, 8–9 peal, 9 dial. pale). β. 5, 9 dial. pyle.
[ME. a. OF. pele (mod.F. pelle shovel):— L. pāla spade, shovel, baker's peel. Cf. pale n.3]
1. A shovel or shovel-shaped implement: now locally or dialectally applied to a fire-shovel, and in some technical uses: see quots.
Some of the early quots. may belong to 2.
| 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 599/36 Pala—Item dicitur latum instrumentum ferreum ad opus ignis, a pele. 1572 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees) I. 349 The Kitching. One Raking croke, one Iron por, one pele, one iron coulrake ijs viij{supd}. 1626 in Naworth Househ. Bks. (Surtees) 237 Mending a shovell and a peale, v{supd}. 1686 tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 81 This Past is very white... They serve it upon little Woodden Peels made on purpose. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 9 Two men set a stirring of it with wooden peels. 1743 Lond. & Country Brew. iv. (ed. 2) 257 [They] burn it 12 Hours into a Coak..which they break and divide into pretty large Pieces with an Iron-Peal. 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 214 The cream..may be removed..into an open vessel, and there moved by hand with a stick about a foot long, at the end of which is fixed a sort of peal,..with which about 12 lbs of butter may be separated from the butter-milk at a time. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 360 At the top of the table is a large triangular iron peel or shovel, with its fore part bearing upon the edge of the table. 1828–32 Webster, Peel,..in popular use in America, any large fire-shovel. |
2. spec. A baker's shovel, a pole with a broad flat disk at the end for thrusting loaves, pies, etc., into the oven and withdrawing them from it.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 155 Þis boon is lich to a pele wiþ þe whiche men setten breed into þe ouene. c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 808/33, 34 Hoc furnorium, Hec pila, pyle. 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 154 b, Sette in the bredde with a pele. c 1537 Thersites in Hazl. Dodsley I. 424 The backster of Bal[d] ockbury with her baking peel. 1552 Huloet, Pile for an ouen. Loke in piele. 1596 Unton Inv. (1841) 2 On iron peale, ij searces, j great bread grate. 1614 B. Jonson Bart. Fair iii. ii, A notable hot Baker 'twas when hee ply'd the peele. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 85/2 A Baker, with a Peel in his both hands. 1750 W. Ellis Country Housew. 75 Set them on a peal, and lay them to bake at the oven's mouth. 1886 T. Hardy Mayor Casterbr. (1895) 310 (E.D.D.) Hearing a noise, out ran his wife with the oven pyle. 1887 S. Cheshire Gloss. s.v., We have two varieties of peels, viz. bread-peels and pie⁓peels. 1890 Glouc. Gloss., Pale, or Peel, a flat, spade-shaped tool used by bakers, to take dishes, etc., out of the oven. |
3. Printing. A T-shaped instrument used to hang up damp freshly printed sheets to dry.
| 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxv. ¶1 He Loads and unloads his Peel again successively, till he have Hung up the whole Heap. 1771 Luckombe Hist. Print. 487 He takes the Handle of the Peel in his left hand, and lays the top part flat down upon the Heap. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Peel,..a printer's tool for hanging up damp printed sheets on a line to dry. |
4. The blade or wash of an oar. U.S.
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Peel..3. (Nautical.) The wash of an oar. 1890 Webster, Peel..Also, the blade of an oar. |
5. attrib., as in two-peel, three-peel machine, sizes of the cutting-machine in biscuit-making; peel-end, the portion of a biscuit- or cracker-machine beyond the cutter.
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. |
▪ III. peel, n.3
(piːl)
Also 6–7 peele, (7 peil). See also pill n.1
[Appears first in 16th c., as a collateral form of the earlier pill n.1 (still widely used in the dialects) after peel v.1 (Cf. also OF. pel, mod.F. peau skin, rind, peel:—L. pell-em skin.]
1. a. The rind or outer coating of any fruit; esp. in orange-peel, lemon-peel, citron-peel; candied peel, the candied rind of various species of Citrus, esp. the citron, used as a flavouring in cookery and confectionery.
| [1388–18..: see pill n.1] |
| 1583 in Hakluyt Voy. (1599) II. 269 For churned milke we gaue them bread and pomgranat peeles, wherewith they vse to tanne their goats skinnes which they churne withall. 1611 Cotgr., Follicule,..a huske, hull, peele, or skin inclosing seed. 1615 [see orange-peel 2]. 1672 Lemmon peil [see lemon n.1 5]. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 143 A Nut, having a green Bark or Peel. Ibid. 151 Candied Orange Peel. 1861–80 Mrs. Beeton Househ. Managem. §1871 Ingredients..2 oz. of sweet almonds, 1 oz. of candied peel..; cut the peel into neat slices. Ibid. §1878 Add the sugar, peel, ginger, spice, and treacle. 1875 Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims viii. 192 The rich feed on fruits and game,—the poor, on a watermelon's peel. |
b. Comb., as peel-maker, one who prepares candied peel.
| 1851 in Illustr. Lond. News 5 Aug. (1854) 119/3 Occupations of People... Peel-maker. |
2. Rugby Football. The action of peeling from a set formation (see peel v.1 5 g).
| 1973 Scotsman 21 Feb. 18/6 Thus, when it comes to deflecting the ball for a peel, Strachan prefers to operate from No. 8 where there is a little more scope for manoeuvre. 1978 Sunday Express 19 Mar. 31/4 From yet another winning line-out by Martin, Graham Price slipped him a pass on the peel and Edwards lofted over a towering drop goal. |
▪ IV. peel, n.4 Sc.
[Goes with peel v.2]
A match, an equal.
| 1722 W. Hamilton Wallace vii. ii, In time of peace, he never had a peel, So courteous he was, and so genteel. 1813 Picken Poems II. 131 (Jam.) She fuish him John Gilpin, nae sang is its peil, For a pattern to work by. 1882 ‘Strathesk’ More Bits xiv, When time was called, the numbers on each side were equal, or peels, in curling phraseology. 1890 J. Kerr Hist. Curling 240 He absolutely refused to play his stone on one occasion when the game stood peels. 1918 Kelso Chron. 4 Oct. 3 The players were ‘peels’ at 12. 1956 in Sc. Nat. Dict. (1968) VII. 70/2 The sides finished peels. |
▪ V. peel, n.5
collateral f. pillow, now dial.
▪ VI. peel, n.6
(piːl)
[see peel v.3]
In Croquet, the action of peeling.
| 1907 C. D. Locock Mod. Croquet Tactics xi. 145 The croquet term ‘Peel’ is derived from the eminent player of that name. Ibid. 146 This peeling generally..takes place in the course of a single break; but sometimes, and especially in Doubles, it is worth while to go for a peel on the captain of the other side. 1914 Ld. Tollemache Croquet xviii. 111 In Handicap games it is frequently impossible to win without a Peel of some sort. 1932 Times Lit. Suppl. 18 Aug. 580/2 Like golfers its [sc. croquet's] devotees discuss it in mystical terms of ‘tices’, ‘peels’ and ‘three-ball breaks’. 1953 Times 17 Feb. 3/7 Cotter used the turn to its fullest advantage and finished the match with a triple peel. 1974 Observer 23 June 40/3 Triple peels (three in a row) were commonplace at Cheltenham. |
▪ VII. peel, v.1
(piːl)
Forms: (3 peolien), 4–5 pelen, -yn, 5–6 (9 Sc.) pele, 6 peele, piel, 6–8 Sc. peil, (peill, peile), 7 peal, 7– peel.
[A collateral form of pill v.1, formerly used in all the senses of the latter; in later use, in Standard English, appropriated to the sense ‘decorticate’ and uses thence derived. For the phonology see pill v.1 (It seems possible that the comparatively modern sense-differentiation of pill and pele, peel, may have been influenced by the example of F. piller to pillage, rob, and peler to deprive of hair, to strip of skin, to peel.)]
I. To pillage, rob.
† 1. a. trans. To plunder, pillage, spoil, rifle, strip of possessions (a person or place); = pill v.1 1.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 2357 Certys þefte ryȝt wykked ys..Namly, pore men for to pele Or robbe or bete with-oute skyle. Ibid. 6790 Lorde! how shal these robbers fare That the pore pepyl pelyn ful bare. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶693 What seie we than of hem that pelyn & don extorcions to holy chirche? 1450 Rolls of Parlt. V. 204/2 Hit [the said Isle] hath be so pelyd and oppressid. a 1600 Jok Up-a-lands Compl. in Evergreen (1761) I. 231 Pure Commons presentlie ar peild. 1648 Symmons Vind. Chas. I 161 All the people..who have been wronged, peeled and oppressed. 1670 Milton Hist. Eng. 1, Archigallo..by peeling the wealthier sort, stuff'd his Treasury. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. iii. §11 Would it not be a disagreeable Sight to see an honest Man peeled by Sharpers? |
† b. transf. To exhaust or impoverish (soil); = pill v.1 1 b. Obs.
| 1610 W. Folkingham Art of Survey i. ix. 35 Oates doe well in a leane dry Clay, though they peele a better and prepare a moist. |
† 2. To seize or take by violence or extortion; to make a prey of; = pill v.1 3. Obs.
| [c 1350–1618: see pill v.1 3.] |
| 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 91 A man gais to the were for covatis to pele and rub gudis. ? 1507 Comunyc. (W. de W.) A iij, What shall than profyte thy good in plate Or poundes that thou of the people pele? 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 280 b, His soudiours..pieled all that euer thei could fyngre. |
II. To decorticate, strip.
3. a. To strip (anything) of its natural integument or outer layer, as an orange, potato, or the like of its skin or rind, a tree of its bark; to remove the peel of; = pill v.1 5.
| [1225–1879: see pill v.1 5.] |
| c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 8 Take oynonys and schrede hem, and pele hem. 1462 in Finchale Priory (Surtees) 95 To fele, pele, occupie, and carie away wod and barke. 1464 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 280 Roste an egge hard and pele it. 1698 Froger Voy. 129 An Herb that can be peeled in the same manner as Hemp with us. 1747 H. Glasse Cookery 11 To dress Potatoes. Boil them..then peel them. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 263 A sweet apple, peeled and cut. 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt Introd., The basket-maker peeling his willow-wands in the sunshine. 1877 Bryant Planting of Apple-tree v, Girls..Shall peel its fruit by cottage-hearth. |
b. Usually peel off: To strip off or pare off (skin, bark, etc.); = pill v.1 5 b. Also, to remove or separate (a label, bank-note, etc.) by peeling. Also fig.
| [c 1440–1604: see pill v.1 5 b.] 1573–80 Baret Alv. P 358 To Pill off, or rather peele, as it were to pull off the skin, rinde, or the barke of a tree. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 124 They peal off the Rind of them, then cut them into quarters. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 154 They peeled it off thicker or finer as they had occasion. 1790 Trans. Soc. Arts VIII. 27 Earth that has been peeled and burnt. 1868 Browning Ring & Bk. I. 17 Also he peeled off that last scandal-rag Of Nepotism. 1896 ‘Mark Twain’ in Harper's Mag. Aug. 358/1 He peeled off one of his bulliest old-time blessings, with as many layers to it as an onion. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 116 The thickened capsule cannot readily be peeled from the surface of the liver. 1946 E. O'Neill Iceman Cometh (1947) i. 75 He pulls a big roll from his pocket and peels off a ten-dollar bill. 1971 M. McCarthy Birds of America 181 With his thumbnail, unobtrusively, he peeled off the price-tag. 1977 Monitor (McAllen, Texas) 31 May 1B/1 She got out of the car and peeled off her gloves. 1977 H. Fast Immigrants I. 35 He..took out a wad of bills, peeling off two fives and two singles. 1978 D. Murphy Place Apart xii. 259 We must peel off the terrorist labels and look at the individuals underneath. |
c. To make or form by peeling; = pill v.1 5 c.
| 1885 Bible (R.V.) Gen. xxx. 37 And Jacob took him rods of fresh poplar..and peeled [1611 and earlier vv. pilled] white strakes in them. |
d. To bare (land) of its herbage, as by shaving off, cutting down, or eating down crops, etc. close to the ground; = pill v.1 5 d.
| [1555–1903: see pill v.1 5 d.] |
| 1789 Trans. Soc. Arts (ed. 2) II. 107 His pastures and clover crops were peeled to the earth. |
e. to peel one's eyes: to keep one's eyes peeled. See peeled 4 b.
| 1875 J. G. Holland Sevenoaks xii. 161 An' peel yer eyes, Mike, for I'm goin' to show ye some thin' that'll s'prise ye. 1947 A. Miller All my Sons i. 12 Now go out, and keep both eyes peeled... A policeman don't ask questions. Now peel them eyes! 1976 T. Heald Let Sleeping Dogs Die v. 99 I've been peeling my eyes... There are some funny goings-on going on. |
4. a. intr. Of trees, animal bodies, etc.: To become bare of bark, skin, etc.; to cast the epidermis (as after a fever). Of skin or bark: To become detached, scale off. Also b. To admit of being peeled or barked. = pill v.1 6.
| [c 1000–1886: see pill v. 6.] |
| 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 183 The rinde or skin peeles off most easily. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 15 A meanes to make them peele better. 1712 Swift Tale of Midas 36 Against whose torrent while he swims, The golden scurf peels off his limbs. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xix, ‘This is delightful..!’ said Mr. Pickwick, the skin of whose expressive countenance was rapidly peeling off with exposure to the sun. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xx. 143 Its outer surface appeared to be peeling off like a crust. Mod. I have been sunburnt, and my face is peeling. |
5. a. intr. or absol. To take off one's clothes or outer garments; to strip, as in preparation for some exercise. (Orig. a term of pugilism; later of athletics; now slang or colloq.) Also const. off.
| 1785 Grose Dict. Vulg. T., Peel, to strip: allusion to the taking off the coat or rind of an orange or apple. 1800 J. Hurdis Fav. Village 51 The swain Who, to his fair shirt peeled, from dusky dawn To latest twilight gathers the full ear. 1818 Sporting Mag. II. 231 He peeled in Tothill-fields with the utmost sang froid. 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay xvi, He began to peel, as the boxers call it. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. i, What resplendent beauty that must have been which could have authorized Phryne to ‘peel’! 1879 Boy's Own Paper 18 Jan. 2/1 ‘Look sharp and peel!’ cried our captain. So we hurried to the tent and promptly divested ourselves of our outer garments. 1892 Furnivall in Hoccleve's Wks. I. p. xlvii. note, He peeld to scull bow down-stream. 1922 [see dishybilly]. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 490 Come and I'll peel off. 1950 Variety 13 Dec. 1/5 The gals are peelin' in 23 clubs through Los Angeles County. |
b. trans. To strip wholly or partly of clothing; to take off (clothes). colloq.
| 1820 Corcoran Fancy Note 89 [Randull's] figure is remarkable, when peeled, for its statue-like beauty. 1852 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 147 Jack was in the act of ‘peeling’ himself, as he called it. 1872 C. King Mountain. Sierra Nev. x. 217 Sarah Jane—arms peeled—cooking up stuff. 1888 Detroit Free Press 20 Oct. (Farmer), She peeled off her wedding dress and boots. |
c. to peel it, to run at full speed. U.S. slang.
| 1860 Bartlett Dict. Amer. s.v., To run at full speed. ‘Come, boys; peel it now, or you'll be late.’ |
d. dial. Of a dog, etc.: To show its teeth.
| 1890 P. H. Emerson Wild Life xxvi. 109 Lor, that peeled and showed his ivories at us. |
e. to peel off, peel away (Aeronaut.): to veer from a straight course, esp. one alongside another aircraft; to break away from an airborne formation. (Said of the aircraft or of the pilot.) Also transf.
| 1941 Christian Science Monitor 6 Mar. 4/8 Other fanciful R.A.F. Terms include..‘peeling off’, for veering away from another aircraft. 1941 N.Y. Times 27 July 21/2 To ‘peel off’ is to curve away from another aircraft—the movement as one machine comes up close to another and then slants away is supposed to resemble the act of peeling off the skin of a banana. 1941 Reader's Digest Dec. 59/2 Our fighters seemed to be doing a good job on the Huns because only one peeled off to attack us. 1943 Hunt & Pringle Service Slang 51 Peel off,..to break away from a formation in order to meet an attack, or to leave a squadron to initiate an attack. 1945 News Chron. 7 June 3/1 The Spitfire came out of the clouds high above us, peeled off in our direction, circled around for a bit and then, apparently satisfied, made off. 1953 ‘N. Shute’ In Wet vii. 212 He dismissed the escort [of fighter aircraft].., and they peeled away up into the clear blue sky. 1976 A. White Long Silence vii. 53 We had picked up our fighter escort... Every so often, one of them would peel off and sweep an observation circuit. 1976 Shooting Times & Country Mag. 16–22 Dec. 29/2, I shot at another goose which peeled off, flew fluttering for a hundred yards, and then windmilled down stone dead. 1977 M. Babson Lord Mayor of Death xviii. 191 The police car..peeled away from the procession and sped for open ground. |
f. To leave, depart; to move off in another direction. Also transf. and fig.
| 1952 S. Selvon Brighter Sun iii. 52 ‘Well, one for de road, Ah peeling off now,’ and after the drink he waved his hand and departed. 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 31 Oct. 621/3 The drug-peddling charlatan artist peels off with the German homosexual who has more money than he knows what to do with. 1960 Tamarack Rev. xiv. 25 The way he have it figure out, if he stay in the work he have now, he going to be able to peel off and spend the summer on the Continent. 1968 Surfer Mag. Jan. 47/3 Ten-foot waves that peel off in good right and left slides. 1968 W. Warwick Surfriding in N.Z. 21/2 When waves break over a sandbar they tend to either dump or peel off along the beach depending on the level of the tide. 1970 N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon ii. 38 Just short of the point where a main highway peels off westward.., motels and cocktail lounges..nest alongside gleaming new buildings. 1974 D. Gray Dead Give Away v. 54 ‘What do we do between tea and dinner?’ asked Tony. ‘I peel off to my room and read,’ said Bob. 1976 Sounds 11 Dec. 29/4 The rhythm picks up and Ponty and Stuermer run up and down a soaring, emotive riff together before peeling off to indulge in their own fantasies in turn. |
g. spec. In Rugby football, to move off in various directions from a set formation. Also const. without off.
| 1960 Times 24 Oct. 14/1 It was a joy to watch the smooth way in which they peeled off from a tight scrummage. 1960 Rugby World Nov. 6/2 From the line-out..they aim to burst through frontally, either by the now familiar ‘peeling off’ method introduced by their late captain, Lucien Mias, or by extending the line and creating gaps through which a break can be made. 1963 Times 28 Jan. 4/6 Abetted by little Lacroix at their heels, they peeled off in all directions in concerted changes of the focal point of attack. 1970 Times 13 Apr. 6 Wiltshire peeled from the lineout for a try after five minutes of incessant pressure. 1977 Western Mail (Cardiff) 5 Mar. 18/1 They were trailing only 6–7 at the interval after No. 8 Roger Lane had peeled from a close range scrum to put Adrian Jones diving at full stretch for a try. |
† 6. Phrases. a. to pack and (or) peel, ? to pack and unpack (or unwrap); to deal in any way; to have dealings. Sc. Obs.
Peel prob. meant ‘divest of its wrapping or covering’, but its sense is uncertain, and was a matter of forensic dispute already in 1680.
| 1503 Sc. Acts Jas. IV (1814) II. 245/2 And þ{supt} na man pak nor pele in leitht nor vþeris placis vtouth þe kingis burrowis vnder þe pane of eschaeting of þe gudis to þe kingis vse, þ{supt} be tappit sald pakkit or pelit agane þis statute. 1506 Burgh Rec. Edin. (Rec. Soc.) I. 109 We ar greittumlie defraudit in our cvstomes throw pakking and peling of merchand gude in Leith to be had furth of our realme. 1540 Sc. Acts Jas. V (1814) II. 375/2 It Is statute and ordanit þat na persoun vse pakking nor peling of woll hidis nor skynnis lois' nor laid outw{supt} fre burgh and priuilege Therof. 1680 in Fountainhall Decisions (1759) I. 81 By the 84th act Parl, 1503, and 24th act, 1633, the merchants must only pack and peil at free burghs: Now loading and unloading is the same thing with packing and peiling. This was denied by the Dukes Advocates, who called ‘packing’ the stowing of goods in packs, and ‘peiling’, they did not agree what it meant. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet ch. x, I am not a person to pack or peel with Jacobites. |
b. peel and poll: see pill v.1 7.
▪ VIII. peel, v.2 Sc.
Also 8–9 peal, 9 peil.
[Goes with peel n.4: origin unascertained.]
trans. To equal, to match. Also in wider use in Curling.
| a 1700 in Poems Comp. Archers (1726) 62 When Ardrose was a Man, He cou'd not be peal'd. 1825 Jamieson, To Peel, Peal, Peil,..to equal, to match, to produce anything exactly like another. 1921 Glasgow Herald 25 Aug. 4/7 The Scottish Tourists..played a two-rink game [of bowls] at Balham yesterday, ‘peeling’ at 19 on one and losing the other by 12. 1950 Scotsman 9 Aug. 7/3 The players peeled at several stages in the game and were 17–17 at the seventeenth end. 1962 Even. Dispatch (Edinburgh) 29 Jan. 7 The last named fought back in the closing stages to peel the game [sc. curling] at 11 at the 13th. 1969 R. Welsh Beginner's Guide Curling iv. 33 Peels, to be equal in shots. 1971 Rand Daily Mail 27 Mar. 23/3 Thomson..came back into the game and peeled 15–15 on the 20th end. |
▪ IX. peel, v.3
(piːl)
[f. the name of Walter H. Peel, founder of the All England Croquet Assoc. and a leading exponent of the practice.]
In Croquet, to send a ball other than one's own through a hoop. So ˈpeeling vbl. n.2, peeled ppl. a.2
| 1899 L. B. Williams Croquet iv. 123 Closely allied to this idea that the partners must be kept together at all hazards and, in a measure, dependent upon it, is the notion that it is a player's duty to put his partner through a hoop when the balls are both for the same point. This manœuvre is occasionally necessary, especially at the last hoop. It is called ‘peeling’, after its greatest exponent, the late Mr. Walter Peel... Mr. Peel practised it with great accuracy and success. 1914 Ld. Tollemache Croquet xviii. 110 The attempt is sometimes made in the second break to ‘Peel’ your first ball through its remaining Hoops during the course of your second break. 1960 E. P. C. Cotter Tackle Croquet this Way 77 To peel is to cause a ball other than the striker's ball to run its hoop in order. Ibid. 78 You can peel firmly and confidently, and there is less chance of Black sticking in the hoop. 1961 Croquet (‘Know the Game’ Series) 36/1 Peel, to send a ball other than your own through its own hoop. 1966 Miller & Thorp Croquet ix. 86 The better players are capable of peeling a ball through two or three hoops during a break... A ball peeled through its hoop in order scores that hoop. 1976 Denbighshire Free Press 8 Dec. 12/5 (Advt.), Do you find Croquet, the Croquet of Breaks and Bisques, baffling? Or do you Peel with consummate ease? |