chaff¹

[chaf, chahf] /tʃæf, tʃɑf/

noun

the husks of grains and grasses that are separated during threshing.

straw cut up for fodder.

worthless matter; refuse.

the membranous, usually dry, brittle bracts of the flowers of certain plants.

Also called window. Military. strips of metal foil dropped by an aircraft to confuse enemy radar by creating false blips.

Origin

before 1000; Middle English chaf, Old English ceaf; cognate with Middle Low German, Dutch kaf

Related forms

chaffless, adjective

chafflike, adjective

chaff²

[chaf, chahf] /tʃæf, tʃɑf/

verb (used with object), verb (used without object)

to mock, tease, or jest in a good-natured way; banter:

She chaffed him for working late. They joked and chaffed with each other.

noun

good-natured ridicule or teasing; raillery.

Origin

1640-50; perhaps from chaff¹

Related forms

chaffingly, adverb

unchaffed, adjective

unchaffing, adjective

Examples from the web for chaff

Found in his apparel were traces of wheat chaff and husks of barley.
People were hungry, reduced to eating chaff and weeds.
It's heartening to see only one piece of chaff in the wheat here.
Allow grits to settle in saucepan, then skim off chaff and hulls that float to surface.
Nothing wrong with separating the wheat from the chaff.
In fact, now the problem was finding the wheat from the chaff.
Time is the element that separates the wheat from the chaff.
It also produces far too many ideas: managers have to spend weeks sorting through the chaff to find a few grains of wheat.
It's surprisingly easy to sift through the chaff for the wheat.
Had there not been so much chaff mixed with the wheat, the entire session would have been one long riot.

British Dictionary definitions for chaff

chaff¹

/tʃɑːf/

noun

the mass of husks, etc, separated from the seeds during threshing

finely cut straw and hay used to feed cattle

something of little worth; rubbish (esp in the phrase separate the wheat from the chaff)

the dry membranous bracts enclosing the flowers of certain composite plants

thin strips of metallic foil released into the earth's atmosphere to confuse radar signals and prevent detection

Derived Forms

chaffy, adjective

Word Origin

Old English ceaf; related to Old High German keva husk

chaff²

/tʃɑːf/

noun

light-hearted teasing or joking; banter

verb

to tease good-naturedly; banter

Derived Forms

chaffer, noun

Word Origin

C19: probably slang variant of chafe, perhaps influenced by chaff1

Word Origin and History for chaff

"husks," Old English ceaf "chaff," probably from Proto-Germanic *kaf- "to gnaw, chew" (cf. Middle Dutch and Dutch kaf, German Kaff), from PIE root *gep(h)- "jaw, mouth" (see jowl (n.1)). Used figuratively for "worthless material" from late 14c.

chaff in the Bible

the refuse of winnowed corn. It was usually burned (Ex. 15:7; Isa. 5:24; Matt. 3:12). This word sometimes, however, means dried grass or hay (Isa. 5:24; 33:11). Chaff is used as a figure of abortive wickedness (Ps. 1:4; Matt. 3:12). False doctrines are also called chaff (Jer. 23:28), or more correctly rendered "chopped straw." The destruction of the wicked, and their powerlessness, are likened to the carrying away of chaff by the wind (Isa. 17:13; Hos. 13:3; Zeph. 2:2).