exfoliate

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
exfoliate /ɪksˈfəʊlɪeɪt, ɛks-/

▶verb

• 1 shed or be shed from a surface in scales or layers.

• 2 wash or rub (the skin) with a granular substance to remove dead cells.

– derivatives
exfoliation noun,
exfoliative adjective,
exfoliator noun.

– origin C17: from late L. exfoliat-, exfoliare ‘strip of leaves’, from ex- ‘out, from’ + folium ‘leaf’.