chaff

¹

[ chaf, chahf ]

noun

1. the husks of grains and grasses that are separated during threshing.
2. straw cut up for fodder.
3. worthless matter; refuse.
4. the membranous, usually dry, brittle bracts of the flowers of certain plants.
5. Also called window. Military. strips of metal foil dropped by an aircraft to confuse enemy radar by creating false blips.

chaff

²

[ chaf, chahf ]

verb (used with or without object)

1. 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

1. good-natured ridicule or teasing; raillery.

chaff

¹

/ tʃɑːf /

noun

1. light-hearted teasing or joking; banter

verb

1. to tease good-naturedly; banter

chaff

²

/ tʃɑːf /

noun

1. the mass of husks, etc, separated from the seeds during threshing
2. finely cut straw and hay used to feed cattle
3. something of little worth; rubbish (esp in the phrase separate the wheat from the chaff )
4. the dry membranous bracts enclosing the flowers of certain composite plants
5. thin strips of metallic foil released into the earth's atmosphere to confuse radar signals and prevent detection

Derived Forms

• ˈchaffer, noun
• ˈchaffy, adjective

Other Words From

• chaffless adjective
• chafflike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of chaff¹

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

Origin of chaff²

First recorded in 1640–50; perhaps from chaff ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of chaff¹

C19: probably slang variant of chafe , perhaps influenced by chaff ¹

Origin of chaff²

Old English ceaf; related to Old High German keva husk

Example Sentences

Conscious reasoning is helpful in sorting the wheat from the chaff, but it would be interesting to consider the hidden aquifers that make much of the grain grow in the first place.

From Washington Post

Assam is Modi’s grand laboratory, where he is putting Muslims to the litmus test of a citizen verification drive—separating the trueborn from the chaff—before taking it national.

From Time

The wheat from the chaff will get separated very, very quickly here.

From TechCrunch

You’re trying to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.

From Washington Post

There is good free content on YouTube—including on Perrigo’s or Albrecht’s feeds—but you have to sift through a lot of chaff.

From Outside Online

For CinemaSins, the cookie cutter approach often takes much of the chaff, but leaves behind the wheat.

From The Daily Beast

I say you're no good as an interview because no one is very good at sorting the wheat from the chaff.

From The Daily Beast

Yankees tend to shrug off such numbers as largely the chaff drifting down.

From The Daily Beast

Your miner friends notice the stiffness of your walk and chaff you about it.

From The Daily Beast

For a graduate seminar at Georgetown, the chaff-to-wheat ratio is disturbingly high.

From The Daily Beast

Even if poverty were gone, the flail could still beat hard enough upon the grain and chaff of humanity.

From Project Gutenberg

Though the amount played for is serious, a good deal of rather bald conversation and chaff goes on.

From Project Gutenberg

Don't chaff, Shirtings; you're a very good fellow, you know, but I'm not in a laughing humour.

From Project Gutenberg

I'm told that the old men when they were together would chaff each other about their children.

From Project Gutenberg

The soft easy chaff bed gave her more of rest and satisfaction than if it had been eiderdown.

From Project Gutenberg