Ask WordMum: Peel vs Peal
Did the sunburn cause the skin to peel or peal? Are they different words or just British spelling instead of American spelling? Ask WordMum and all will be revealed.
Our Question
How do I know whether to use peel or peal in a sentence?
Terrible Advice
Peel is for organic substances like fruit, vegetables and skin. Peal is for non-organic materials like plastic or metal. Problem solved.
WordMum Says
This is another case of words that sound the same but mean very different things. They only differ by one letter in spelling, so it’s easy to mix them up.
Both of these words can be verbs or nouns, just to keep things interesting.
Let’s start with the verbs!
Peal = loud ringing (verb)
Peal always refers to a sound being made. It’s a specific type of sound: a loud noise that reverberates and carries over long distances. This is what something does, but cannot be done to the thing; the bell peals, and you can make the bell peal, but you cannot peal the bell. (You ring or strike bells. The thing that makes the noise does the pealing.)
Peel = remove a layer from something (verb)
Peeling refers to removing a layer from something (like a fruit). It tends to be a gradual process rather than a removal that happens quickly or all at once (which might be better described as a strip). This is usually a physical act, though you can use it metaphorically as well, such as peeling back layers of a conspiracy. This one is used more commonly because it can be applied to anything that has the concept of layers or a skin.
Okay, got that? Let’s move on to the nouns.
Peal = a reverberating sound that carries (noun)
This refers to the sound itself. So you can have a bell’s peal or the peal of an alarm. As with the verb, it tends to be used with a specific type of sound that rolls or carries over distances.
Peel = a layer removed from something (noun)
This refers to what you get as a result of peeling something. For example, after peeling an apple, you end up with apple peel. This is not universal, so check before you use it. We don’t refer to human peel, after all.
Peel = something that causes something else to peel (noun)
These are usually chemical treatments, for metal or people depending on whether you’re at a spa or not. This is a more specific usage and meaning, and less common as a result. Unless your story is set in or around somewhere that applies peels.
All making sense so far? Excellent. I find that the key is to ask myself whether the word is referring to sound or layers, and that leads me back to the right spelling. If it’s neither of those, you probably have the wrong word!
Example Time!
A peal of thunder rolled over us
This is talking about a sound, which leads us towards the spelling with the ‘a’. You can’t have a peel of thunder, because thunder doesn’t have layers you can remove. Stick with the word referring to how loud, long-distance sounds behave!
She applied the peel to peel the dead skin off her client
This does make grammatical sense! In this case, someone is applying a chemical peel to a person, which will remove (peel) a layer of skin. Neither of these refers to a sound or a way sound behaves, and both refer to removing a layer of something, so we know to use the double-e spelling of the word.
Laughter pealed from across the room
In this instance, peal is a verb and it’s talking about what a sound is doing. That leads us to the ‘ea’ version of the word. Using the verb this way tells us something about the laughter too, as peal is what loud, reverberating sounds do. This is not a quiet snicker from across the room!
Citrus peel is good for keeping cats out of garden beds
This example is referring to a layer of skin from a fruit (specifically, a citrus fruit), which tells us to use the ‘ee’ spelling of the word. It’s not bad advice, though I did once have a cat that loved orange peel and would eat it if she could. So while the spelling here may be consistent, the results of this advice may not be.
There we go! So now you can peel your banana while listening to cheers pealing in the distance.
Do you have any examples we haven’t covered here? Does this strategy help you remember which spelling to use? Let me know in the comments here or over on Discord.
Join us next time for more in the series. Which words will we be talking about then? Watch this space!