means A handheld kitchen tool with a blade designed to shave thin strips of skin off fruits and vegetables — or, in old British slang, a police officer.

from From 'peel,' meaning to strip away the outer layer, which traces back through Old French 'peler' to Latin 'pilare,' to strip of hair (related to 'pilus,' a hair) — tangled along the way with 'pellis,' skin. The kitchen tool simply names what it does. The British 'peeler' for a policeman is a separate branch: it honors Sir Robert Peel, who founded London's Metropolitan Police, and gave us 'bobbies' too.