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Peel vs Pill - What's the difference?

peel | pill |

In obsolete terms the difference between peel and pill

is that peel is a fence made of stakes; a stockade while pill is to pillage; to despoil or impoverish.

As verbs the difference between peel and pill

is that peel is to remove the skin or outer covering of while pill is of a woven fabric surface, to form small matted balls of fiber.

As nouns the difference between peel and pill

is that peel is the skin or outer layer of a fruit, vegetable, etc while pill is a small, usually cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication.

As a proper noun Peel

is a town on the Isle of Man.

peel

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) .

Verb

(en verb)
  • To remove the skin or outer covering of.
  • I sat by my sister's bed, peeling oranges for her.
  • * Shakespeare
  • The skillful shepherd peeled me certain wands.
  • To remove from the outer or top layer of.
  • I peeled (the skin from) an orange and ate it hungrily.
    We peeled the old wallpaper off in strips where it was hanging loose.
  • To become detached, come away, especially in flakes or strips; to shed skin in such a way.
  • I had been out in the sun too long, and my nose was starting to peel .
  • To remove one's clothing.
  • The children peeled by the side of the lake and jumped in.
  • To move, separate (off or away)
  • The scrum-half peeled off and made for the touchlines.
    Synonyms
    * (remove outer covering) skin, strip * (remove clothing) disrobe, strip
    Derived terms
    * peel off * peel out * keep one's eyes peeled (i.e. with eyelids open) * peeler

    Noun

  • The skin or outer layer of a fruit, vegetable, etc.
  • The action of peeling away from a formation.
  • (label) cosmetic preparation designed to remove dead skin or exfoliate.
  • Synonyms
    * (skin of a fruit) rind, zest
    Derived terms
    * orange peel * peel strength

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) and (etyl) pel (compare modern French pieu), from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A stake.
  • (obsolete) A fence made of stakes; a stockade.
  • (archaic) A small tower, fort, or castle; a keep.
  • Derived terms
    * peel-house, peelhouse * peel-tower

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) pele (compare modern (pelle)), from (etyl) pala, from the base of .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A shovel or similar instrument, now especially a pole with a flat disc at the end used for removing loaves of bread from a baker's oven.
  • A T-shaped implement used by printers and bookbinders for hanging wet sheets of paper on lines or poles to dry.
  • (archaic, US) The blade of an oar.
  • Etymology 4

    Origin unknown.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Scotland, and, curling) An equal or match; a draw.
  • (curling) A takeout which removes a stone from play as well as the delivered stone.
  • Etymology 5

    Named from Walter H. Peel, a noted 19th-century croquet player.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (croquet) To send through a hoop (of a ball other than one's own).
  • Etymology 6

    Misspelling of peal.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • : to sound loudly.
  • * 1825 June 25, "My Village Bells", in The Circulator of Useful Knowledge, Literature, Amusement, and General Information'' number XXVI, available in, 1825, ''The Circulator of Useful Amusement, Literature, Science, and General Information , page 401,
  • Oh ! still for me let merry bells peel out their holy chime;
  • * 1901 January 1, "Twentieth Century's Triumphant Entry", , page 1,
  • The lights flashed, the crowds sang,... bells peeled , bombs thundered,... and the new Century made its triumphant entry.
  • * 2006 , Miles Richardson, Being-In-Christ and Putting Death in Its Place , , ISBN 0807132047, pages 230–231,
  • As the tiny Virgin... approaches one of the barrio churches, bells peel vigorously, a brass band launches into a fast-paced tune, and large rockets zoom... .

    Etymology 7

    (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (archaic) To plunder; to pillage, rob.
  • * Milton
  • But govern ill the nations under yoke, / Peeling their provinces.

    pill

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) or (etyl) pille (whence (etyl) pil), probably from (etyl) pilula.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A small, usually cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication.
  • * 1864 , Benjamin Ellis, The Medical Formulary [http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC14843090&id=pHoMvHRmrlIC&pg=PA170&lpg=PA170&dq=%22take+two+pills%22&as_brr=1]
  • Take two pills every hour in the apyrexia of intermittent fever, until eight are taken.
  • (senseid) Contraceptive medication, usually in the form of a pill to be taken by a woman; an oral contraceptive pill.
  • Jane went on the pill when she left for college.
    She got pregnant one month after going off the pill .
  • * 1986 , Jurriaan Plesman, Getting Off the Hook: Treatment of Drug Addiction and Social Disorders Through Body and Mind :
  • Many specialists are requesting that this vitamin be included in all contraceptive pills, as women on the pill have a tendency to be depressed.
  • (slang) A comical or entertaining person.
  • (slang) A contemptible, annoying, or unpleasant person.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1960
  • , author= , title=(Jeeves in the Offing) , section=chapter IV , passage=You see, he's egging Phyllis on to marry Wilbert Cream. [...] And when a man like that eggs, something has to give, especially when the girl's a pill like Phyllis, who always does what Daddy tells her.}}
  • * 2000 , Susan Isaacs, Shining Through [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0061030155&id=6_1FJWFEYGoC&pg=PA172&lpg=PA172&dq=%22a+real+pill%22&sig=RCUR5O3MhNXeq8rMOnx9-LR5Mfo]
  • Instead, I saw a woman in her mid-fifties, who was a real pill ; while all the others had managed a decent “So pleased,” or even a plain “Hello,” Ginger just inclined her head, as if she was doing a Queen Mary imitation.
  • (informal) A small piece of any substance, for example a ball of fibres formed on the surface of a textile by rubbing.
  • * 1999 , Wally Lamb, I Know This Much Is True [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0060987561&id=LOYeA9GmrEwC&pg=PA201&lpg=PA201&dq=%22sweater+pills%22&sig=U11GOkTpfHlqyGyIdk7ZNZ0GNuI]
  • One sleeve, threadbare and loaded with what my mother called “sweater pills ,” hung halfway to the floor.
  • A baseball.
  • * 2002 , John Klima, Pitched Battle: 35 of Baseball's Greatest Duels from the Mound [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0786412038&id=G126RsLD3MsC&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=%22threw+the+pill%22&sig=NmyoxWN_bP5AHc9imVPMTxY7lvw]
  • Mr. Fisher contributed to the Sox effort when he threw the pill past second baseman Rath after Felsch hit him a comebacker.
  • (firearms) (informal) a bullet (projectile)
  • Synonyms
    * (small object for swallowing) tablet
    Derived terms
    * bitter pill to swallow * blue pill * chill pill * horse pill * morning-after pill * on the pill * pill beetle * pill bug * pill popper * red pill * sugar pill * pop pills

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (textiles) Of a woven fabric surface, to form small matted balls of fiber.
  • * 1997 , Jo Sharp, Knitted Sweater Style: Inspirations in Color [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1561581895&id=l5h-cGU5HUYC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=sweater+pilling&sig=6gfLWBL1QHVQZmbSYhJ4oipm8Kc]
  • During processing, inferior short fibers (which can cause pilling and itching) are removed to enhance the natural softness of the yarn and to improve its wash-and-wear performance.
  • To form into the shape of a pill.
  • Pilling is a skill rarely used by modern pharmacists.
  • To medicate with pills.
  • She pills herself with all sorts of herbal medicines.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (label) To peel; to remove the outer layer of hair, skin, or bark.
  • To peel; to make by removing the skin.
  • *(Bible), (w) xxx. 37
  • *:[Jacob] pilled white streaksin the rods.
  • To be peeled; to peel off in flakes.
  • (label) To pillage; to despoil or impoverish.
  • *:
  • *:So syr Lucan departed for he was greuously wounded in many places And so as he yede he sawe and herkened by the mone lyght how that pyllars and robbers were comen in to the felde To pylle and robbe many a ful noble knyghte of brochys and bedys of many a good rynge & of many a ryche Iewel / and who that were not deed al oute
  • :(Spenser)
  • Noun

    (en noun)
  • The peel or skin.
  • * Holland
  • Some be covered over with crusts, or hard pills , as the locusts.

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) . More at (l).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An inlet on the coast; a small tidal pool or bay.
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