Translation guide
How to express 'peel' in Japanese depends on what you are peeling and how. The most common verb is むく (muku) for peeling with hands or a peeler, but other verbs are used for specific items or methods.
To remove the skin of fruits or vegetables using hands or a peeler.
The most common verb for peeling fruits and vegetables. Used for items like apples, potatoes, and oranges.
Peel an apple.
じゃがいもをむいてください。
Please peel the potatoes.
Literally 'remove the skin'. Used when emphasizing the skin or for items where the skin is the focus.
みかんの皮をむく。
Peel a mandarin orange.
To remove something by pulling it off in strips, like stringy parts of vegetables or bark.
Used for removing stringy fibers from vegetables like celery or green beans.
セロリのすじを取る。
Peel the strings off celery.
To peel off something that is stuck on, like a sticker, bark, or a thin layer.
木の皮をはがす。
Peel the bark off a tree.
To remove skin using a knife, often in a careful or decorative way.
To slice off the skin thinly with a knife. Used for fruits like apples when using a knife.
りんごの皮をそぐ。
Pare an apple.
Can also be used when peeling with a knife, though it's more general.
包丁でりんごをむく。
Peel an apple with a knife.
To remove something that is attached, like a label, tape, or dead skin.
General verb for peeling off something stuck on a surface.
To peel up or turn over a corner, like a page or a sticker edge.
シールの端をめくる。
Peel up the edge of the sticker.
When skin peels by itself, like after sunburn.
Intransitive; used when skin peels naturally.
日焼けで皮がむけた。
My skin peeled from sunburn.
Specifically for peeling a banana.
To remove the shell from shrimp or prawns.
むく is for removing skin with hands or a peeler (fruits, vegetables). はがす is for peeling off something stuck on a surface (stickers, tape, bark). そぐ is for slicing off skin thinly with a knife.