Peel off means to remove a thin layer (a film, sticker or label) or to come off in strips or flakes (about paint or skin). Peel off on packaging means “pull here to remove”: the film on a lid, the backing on a sticker. Without an object, peel off describes something that comes away by itself: paint on a wall, skin after sunburn.
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peel off + film/sticker/label; peel something off + surface; paint/skin + peels off
- Peel off the protective film before you use your new phone.
- The paint on our balcony is peeling off, so we need to repaint it this summer.
- My nose got sunburnt on holiday, and now the skin is peeling off.
What changed
First versionUnglue the price sticker before you give the gift.
RevisionPeel off the price sticker before you give the gift.
Unglue can seem logical for something stuck on, but it's rarely used and sounds odd here. Stickers, films and labels are removed by pulling, and English has a ready-made phrase for that: peel off.
Peel without off means to remove the skin of fruit or vegetables: peel the potatoes, peel an apple. With off, the object is the thing you pull away from a surface: peel off the sticker, peel the sticker off the apple. So peel off the potatoes sounds as if you're pulling the potatoes themselves off something rather than peeling them.
Your turn
Nobody has painted the walls for years, and the paint is ___ in big pieces.
Show the answer
peeling off — The old paint is coming away from the wall in pieces by itself: that's peeling off. Taking off means removing clothes or leaving the ground (a plane) and doesn't describe paint that flakes.
Describe something you bought recently. Say what you had to peel off or remove before you could use it.
I bought a new microwave last week and had to peel the plastic film off the door before I could use it.
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