Meaning of exfoliate
Pronunciation: (eks-fō'lē-āt"), [key]
— v., -at•ed, -at•ing.
- to throw off in scales, splinters, etc.
- to remove the surface of (a bone, the skin, etc.) in scales or laminae.
- to throw off scales or flakes; peel off in thin fragments: The bark of some trees exfoliates.
- to split or swell into a scaly aggregate, as certain minerals when heated.
- to separate into rudely concentric layers or sheets, as certain rocks during weathering.
- to separate and come off in scales, as scaling skin or any structure separating in flakes.
- exfoliate (Thesaurus)