slough off

But the distinct scent of his home state will be hard to completely slough off in parts of the country where California is synonymous with loony lefties, business-killing regulation and an out-of-control homelessness crisis.

Every half-decade or so, Justin Bieber sloughs off the callused skin of the pop superstar he became at age 15 to reveal the tender and quirky R&B singer he’s always been at heart.

Rather than correct them, Liz decides to keep up the pretense — no great stretch for someone so used to sloughing off and trying on one alias after another.

But consider adding on a scrub and sloughing off a layer or two of skin — it’s my favorite way to enter the new year.

At a time when capitulating to the mainstream was regarded as selling out, R.E.M.’s move to a major label stung, as if the band had sloughed off its loyalists for the teeming masses.