Chaff


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.
to mock, tease, or jest in a good-natured way; banter:
She chaffed him for working late. They joked and chaffed with each other.
good-natured ridicule or teasing; raillery.
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
noun
light-hearted teasing or joking; banter
verb
to tease good-naturedly; banter
n.

“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.

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).

Read Also:

  • Chaffed

    to mock, tease, or jest in a good-natured way; banter: She chaffed him for working late. They joked and chaffed with each other. good-natured ridicule or teasing; raillery. 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 […]

  • Chaffer

    bargaining; haggling. to bargain; haggle: to chaffer over a price. to bandy words; chatter: to chaffer about nothing in particular. to bandy (words). Obsolete. to trade or deal in; barter. a person who chaffs or banters. verb (intransitive) to haggle or bargain to chatter, talk, or say idly; bandy (words) (transitive) (obsolete) to deal in; […]

  • Chaffier

    consisting of, covered with, or resembling chaff.

  • Chaffinch

    a common finch, Fringilla coelebs, of the Old World, often kept as a pet. noun a common European finch, Fringilla coelebs, with black and white wings and, in the male, a reddish body and blue-grey head n. Fringilla cælebs, Old English ceaffinc, literally “chaff-finch,” so called for its habit of eating waste grain among the […]

  • Chaffing

    to mock, tease, or jest in a good-natured way; banter: She chaffed him for working late. They joked and chaffed with each other. good-natured ridicule or teasing; raillery. 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 […]


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