chaff
/t͡ʃæf/ noun, verb
Forms chaffs chaffing chaffed
- noun The inedible parts of a grain-producing plant. “To separate out the chaff, early cultures tossed baskets of grain into the air and let the wind blow away the lighter chaff.”
- noun Straw or hay cut up fine for the food of cattle.
- noun (figurative) Any excess or unwanted material, resource, or person; anything worthless.
- noun Light jesting talk; banter; raillery.
- noun (military) Loose material, e.g. small strips of aluminum foil dropped from aircraft, intended to interfere with radar detection.
- verb (intransitive) To use light, idle language by way of fun or ridicule; to banter.
- verb (transitive) To make fun of; to turn into ridicule by addressing in ironical or bantering language.
- verb (transitive) To cut up (straw or hay) for use as cattle feed.
Synonyms
window quiz husk shuck stalk straw stubble kid jolly josh banter
Etymology
From Middle English chaf, from Old English ċeaf, from Proto-West Germanic *kaf. Cognate with Scots caff, Saterland Frisian Sääf, West Frisian tsjêf, Dutch kaf, German Low German Kaff, regional German Kaff.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The glumes or husks of grains and grasses separated from the seed by threshing and winnowing, etc. So take the corn and leave the chaff behind. Dryden.
- noun Anything of a comparatively light and worthless character; the refuse part of anything.
- verb To use light, idle lagnguage by way of fun or ridicule; to banter.
- verb To make fun of; to turn into ridicule by addressing in ironical or bantering language; to quiz.
Etymology [AC. ceaf; akin to D. kaf, G. kaff.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “chaff”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details