▪ I. peeling, vbl. n.
(ˈpiːlɪŋ)
[f. peel v.1 + -ing1. See also pilling vbl. n.]
1. The action of peel v.1, in its various senses. † a. Plundering, spoliation, robbery. Obs.
| [1350–1627: see pilling vbl. n.] |
| 1649 Howell Pre-em. Parl. 11 This illegal peeling of the poor Peasan. |
b. The stripping or removal of bark, rind, skin, or external layer.
| 1564 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 279 The peling of the bark of the standand treis. 1704 Collect. Voy. (Churchill) III. 788/1 Workmen employ'd in peeling of the Cinnamon. 1805 Forsyth Beauties Scotl. (1806) III. 353 Some people..in barking trees,..peeled many of them down to the ground. This..is..called peeling below the axe. |
c. The coming off of bark, skin, etc.; esp. the scaling off of skin after fever.
| 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 554 The peeling off and decay of the outermost layers. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 130 The patient's release will be dependent on the end of peeling. |
d. The putting off of clothes; stripping. colloq.
| 1834 M. Scott Cruise Midge xvii, The operation of peeling was all this while going on amongst the gingham-coated gentry. 1879 Daily News 7 Apr. 3/2 The process of ‘peeling’ had to be gone through. All outer garments were soon taken off, and..deposited on board the umpire's steamer. 1938 [see outstrip v.2]. |
e. peeling and polling: see pilling vbl. n. 1 b.
2. concr. a. That which is peeled or peels off; a strip of bark, etc.; esp. the rind, skin, or outer layer of fruits or roots, which is peeled off when they are prepared for food.
| 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 49 b/2 Conserve of Roses, Marmalade, Citron peelinges. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 85/1 The rind, peeling, or skin of any Fruit. 1796 H. Glasse Cookery xiv. 260 Boil the peeling of the apples and the cores in some fair water. 1832 Marryat N. Forster x, A kid of potato-peelings. 1880 C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark 461 The outer bark comes off..in thin silvery peelings. |
† b. spec. A thin skin or fabric formerly used as a dress material. Obs.
| [1611 Cotgr., Canepin,..th' outward thinne, and white pilling, of a dressed sheepes skin.] 1693 Lond. Gaz. No. 2837/4 A white Peeling Mantua flowered, lined with Green Damask. 1693 Southerne Maid's last Prayer iii. iii. 31, I did but stay to chuse some white Peeling for a pair of Breeches. 1769 Dublin Mercury 16–19 Sept. 2/2 Cardinal silks, sarsnets, peelings, and persians. |
3. The name of a variety of apple. ? Obs.
| 1676 Worlidge Cyder (1691) 210 The Peeling is a very good lasting apple. 1731 Bailey (ed. 5), Peeling, a lasting Sort of Apple that makes excellent Cyder. |
4. attrib. and Comb., as peeling-axe, peeling-iron, peeling-mill.
| 1791 Trans. Soc. Arts IX. 175 They bring the Coffee to a machine called a peeling-mill, where it is divested of its outside skin and pulp. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Peeling-iron, a shovel-shaped thrusting-instrument whereby bark is loosened and pried away from the wood. 1884 Ibid. Suppl., Peeling axe, a double-bitted axe used in barking trees. 1887 Daily News 3 Nov. 5/3 Another member of the family..had had the fever and was in the ‘peeling stage’. |
▪ II. peeling, ppl. a.
(ˈpiːlɪŋ)
[f. peel v.1 + -ing2. See also pilling ppl. a.]
That peels, in the senses of the vb.
| 1897 J. Hutchinson in Arch. Surg. VIII. No. 31. 219 Patches of a peeling and desquamating psoriasis on his left hand and arm. 1900 Ibid. XI. No. 41. 61 Peeling patches in the palms being coincident with papules. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 13 Sept. 8/1 The decorative beauty of the leaves and the peeling stems. |