# peeling vs petting

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### peeling
*noun · IPA /ˈpiːlɪŋ/ · frequency rank #21,313*
The act of removing the outer surface in strips.

### petting
*verb · IPA /ˈpɛtɪŋ/ · frequency rank #27,244*
present participle and gerund of pet

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/peeling-vs-petting