desquamate, v.
(ˈdɛskwəmeɪt)
[f. L. dēsquāmāt-, ppl. stem of dēsquāmāre (trans.) to remove the scales from, to scale, f. de- I. 2 + squāma scale (of a fish, reptile, etc.).]
† 1. trans. To take the scales off, clear from scales, peelings, or loose cuticle; to scale, peel.
| 1740 Dyche & Pardon Desquamate, to scrape off the fins from fish; and in Surgery, to scale off the corrupt or shattered part of bones. |
2. intr. To come off in the form of scales; to scale off, exfoliate, ‘peel’.
| 1828 Combe Const. Man iii. (1835) 99 As anatomists call it, desquamating; by which they mean, that the cuticle..comes off in squamæ or scales. 1878 T. Bryant Pract. Surg. I. 53 The cuticle always desquamates. |
Hence ˈdesquamated ppl. a., scaled off; freed from scales or cuticle, peeled.
| 1727 Bailey vol. II, Desquamated, scaled, having the Scales taken off. 1845–6 G. E. Day tr. Simon's Anim. Chem. II. 107 Piutti removed all the desquamated cuticle. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 556 They traverse and support each desquamated zone surrounding the periphery of the stem. |