The invention relates to a method for determining the flank face contour, more particularly the clearance angle, of a blade-like tool or tool tooth of a tool for hob peeling workpieces, according to which - in a first step, the rake face contour of the tool is defined and the progression of the path movement of the rake face of the tool during chip-breaking hob peeling is calculated, taking into account a predetermined or pre-determinable transmission ratio between the tool and the workpiece determined by the respective number of teeth, and the desired tooth cross-section contour of the tool, and - in a second step, the tangential speed for each point of the cutting edge of the tool during chip-breaking hob peeling is determined in the form of vectors and these vectors are displayed graphically as bundles for each point on the cutting-edge and a closed envelope surface is determined, inside of which there are no vectors, and finally - this envelope surface plus a desired clearance angle is selected as the shape for the flank face contour of the tool or of the flank face of the tool tooth. The invention further relates to a tool for hob peeling with a plurality of teeth each having rake faces with cutting edges and adjoining flank faces, the teeth being arranged on a cylindrical or conical jacket. The tool is rotationally drivable about a tool axis a radial distance away from the workpiece axis and can be brought into rolling engagement at an axis intersection angle between the rotational axis of a driven workpiece and the tool rotational axis. A closed annular envelope surface is formed by the bundle of tangential speed vectors for each cutting-edge point, inside of which envelope surface no tangential speed vectors are present and with respect to which envelope surface the flank face of each tooth is inclined by 2° to 10°, preferably 3° to 7°. The invention also relates to use of said tool.