English

Verb

strip off

1. (transitive) To remove anything by stripping, e.g. items of clothing or paint from the side of a ship.
   • 1713, Alexander Pope translation of Homer Odyssey read at Project Gutenberg

     Strip off thy garments; Neptune's fury brave /With naked strength, and plunge into the wave.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess:

     As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.

   • 2006, James Mills Hill, I Have Been Blessed!: Hard Work and Happiness

     We cut down pine trees and then had to strip off all the bark.

   • 2006, James P. Lewis, Project Planning, Scheduling & Control, A Hands-On Guide to Bringing Projects in on Time and on Budget, fourth edition

     In addition, if you strip off the overtime, you can't tell that you have problems, as was shown at the beginning of this chapter.

   • 2006, William Scarborough, Baked Alaskan

     Victor sat on a rock and tried to strip off his waders, his body shaking so much that he couldn't get a decent grip.

2. (intransitive, Britain, idiomatic) To remove all of one's clothes (or sometimes to remove all except underclothes, or figuratively).
   • 1847, John Sanderson, The American in Paris

     Your trees of Pine Hill, which persevere in being green the year round, do not please so much as those which strip off in November,and put on their green and flowery robes in April.

   • 1871, Clinton Carter Hutchinson, Resources of Kansas: Fifteen Years Experience

     A night when you strip off and sit down to gasp and pant for a breath of air; such a night is never experienced in Kansas.

   • 2006, Ernest Millington, Was That Really Me?

     I cannot remember whose idea it was that we should strip off to our underclothing and go into the coolness of the stream.

   • 2006, Mike Edwards, Friendly Fire

     The other recruits started to undress where they stood but Ledanseur was too embarrassed to strip off in front of his new comrades. He went into the shower block and undressed there.

3. (intransitive) To be removed by stripping
   • 1864, Robert Jennings, Sheep, Swine, and Poultry

     The feathers strip off much more easily and cleanly while the bird is yet warm.

   • 2005, Chris Baines, How To Make A Wildlife Garden

     On an old plant, this tends to strip off in long, tough, stringy lumps, a bit like short lengths of raffia.

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