English

Verb

peel away ‎(third-person singular simple present peels away, present participle peeling away, simple past and past participle peeled away)

1. (intransitive) To separate off from the main body, to move off to one side; as in troop movements on a parade ground or an organized retreat, or columns in a procession.
   • November 17 2012, BBC Sport: Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham

     Six minutes later, Mertesacker peeled away from Gallas to meet Walcott's right-wing cross with a superb header.

2. (transitive) To become separate from peeling

   All the paint had peeled away.

3. (transitive) To take away from somewhere else
   • April 19 2002, Scott Tobias, AV Club Fightville

     Though mixed martial arts has successfully peeled away fans from boxing (a sport that’s lost any compelling champions and much of its dignity) and WWE (a “sport” that’s always existed in quotation marks) it’s had trouble shaking its reputation as “human cockfighting.”