Exfoliate
Exfoliate , intransitive verb
[Latin exfoliare to strip of leaves; ex out, from + folium leaf.]
1.
To separate and come off in scales or lamina, as pieces of carious bone or of bark.
2.
(Mineralogy) To split into scales, especially to become converted into scales at the result of heat or decomposition.
Exfoliate , transitive verb
To remove scales, lamina, or splinters from the surface of.