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.
りんごの皮をむく。
Peel an apple.
Please peel the potatoes.
Literally 'remove the skin'. Used when emphasizing the skin or for items where the skin is the focus.
Peel a mandarin orange.
To remove something by pulling it off in strips, like stringy parts of vegetables or bark.
To remove skin using a knife, often in a careful or decorative way.
To remove something that is attached, like a label, tape, or dead skin.
When skin peels by itself, like after sunburn.
Intransitive; used when skin peels naturally.
My skin peeled from sunburn.
Specifically for peeling a banana.
The standard way to say peel a banana.
Peel a banana.
To remove the shell from shrimp or prawns.
Used for peeling shrimp, prawns, or other shellfish.
Peel shrimp.
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.
Peel an apple (with hands/peeler).
Peel off a sticker.
Pare an apple (with a knife).
木の皮をはがす。
Peel the bark off a tree.
Peel an apple with a knife.
Peel up the edge of the sticker.