to peel off
3
4.1
- phrasal verb
- /piːl ɔf/
:
desviarse
- When the concert ended, the crowd began to peel off in smaller groups towards their cars.
- peeled off to the left
- Three Marines peeled off
Well, people with kids kind of started peeling off, peeling off, peeling out.
- Well, people with kids kind of started peeling off, peeling off, peeling out.
- So now those, those older guys are kind of peeling off.
Examples
-
If the Dems were smart, they'd try to peel off Republicans who are willing to cut military spending.
Blog text (29) -
Even if we are in a group, we try to peel off and separate ourselves.
Blog text (23) -
I'm going to peel off here.
-
But can they get enough Democrats in the Senate to peel off and support them?
Blog text (15) -
Chewie, peel off from the battle.
-
And then he peeled off and dove back towards his lines.
-
As they peel off, three of the jets climb to higher elevation while the lead jet falls in behind the 747.
Fiction book (1996) -
From here they will either support the main advance or peel off to overrun the minor routes which crisscross the city outskirts.
-
During the parade, some vehicles began to peel off from the main group to take a different route.
-
As the group approached the intersection, a few cars started to peel off and head in opposite directions.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To go away from a place, person, or group
273
3.2
To leave a place quickly, often to travel somewhere else
86
3.5
To move away from people or a place to create space
14
6.8
Leave a place or start a journey
12
7.7
Leave a place quickly, often in a rude way
11
6.2
To leave a group and form a smaller, separate one often after disagreement
5
3.6
To escape suddenly from control, capture, or a group
4
3.3
Leave a main route, area, or topic and go in a different direction
1
7.9
To leave a place quickly, often without saying goodbye
Antonyms
How Quickly
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to leave a group or formation and move away' is partially inferable from 'peel' as 'detach' and 'off' as 'away/removal', so a learner who knows both words could guess a meaning involving separation and movement. However, using a peeling metaphor for people or vehicles leaving a formation is a figurative extension and not fully predictable from the constituents alone, so it requires some exposure to this phrasal-verb use.
Etymology
Peel off: The phrasal verb peel off may come from the image of one thing being pulled away from a group, like you peel a label off a roll so it separates and moves away. So it means 'to leave a group or formation and move away'.