chaff

¹ American  

[chaf, chahf] / tʃæf, tʃɑf /

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.

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chaff ² American  

[chaf, chahf] / tʃæf, tʃɑf /

verb (used with or without object)

• chaffs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• chaffed,
  past participle,  past
• chaffing
  present participle

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.

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noun

1. good-natured ridicule or teasing; raillery.

chaff ¹ British  

/ 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

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chaff ² British  

/ tʃɑːf /

noun

1. light-hearted teasing or joking; banter

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verb

1. to tease good-naturedly; banter

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• chaffer
  noun
• chaffless
  adjective
• chafflike
  adjective
• chaffy
  adjective
• unchaffed
  adjective
• unchaffing
  adjective
• chaffingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• chaffing
  present
• chaffed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• chaff
  simple
• chaffs
  simple
• have chaffed
  perfect
• has chaffed
  perfect
• am chaffing
  progressive
• are chaffing
  progressive
• is chaffing
  progressive
• have been chaffing
  perfect progressive
• has been chaffing
  perfect progressive

Past

• chaffed
  simple
• had chaffed
  perfect
• was chaffing
  progressive
• were chaffing
  progressive
• had been chaffing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will chaff
  simple
• will have chaffed
  perfect
• will be chaffing
  progressive
• will have been chaffing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

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

Explanation

The proverbial phrase "separate the wheat from the chaff" may not be terribly meaningful to you — unless you happen to be a grain farmer. The chaff is the husk surrounding a seed, the part of the grain that is generally thrown away. In cereal crops like rice, barley, oats, and wheat, the seed — the part of the plant that we eat — is surrounded by a husk. This waste material has been called chaff since the twelfth century at least, but the word has a long history as a metaphor meaning "objects and ideas of little or no value," as well. The Internet is full of misinformation as well as facts so you might have a hard time separating the wheat from the chaff. Their nasty comments are just a lot of chaff — don't even listen to them.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chaff chaffs chaffed chaffing

To prepare, the offense needs to invest in a new defense: improving chaff.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

“The larger world, if it doesn’t directly impact the day-to-day,” she told me, “becomes chaff that you kind of block out because you’re so focused on trying to survive this crucible that you’re in.”

From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026

A short walk away, a threshing machine spews clouds of dust and chaff as wheat pours out in a steady stream, rattling into worn brown sacks at farmers' feet.

From Barron's ● May 15, 2026

It's more about whether you actually believe in something — and boy, oh boy, has the wheat been separated from the chaff in that respect.

From Salon ● Apr. 20, 2025

Halfway down he sneezed violently in an eddy of chaff.

From "The Incredible Journey" by Sheila Burnford

“One American can relish hugely the entertainment afforded when one quizzical Englishman chaffs his shy, ineloquent countrymen without expecting all other Americans to shake with laughter at the same spectacle,” Woollcott wrote.

From New York Times ● Oct. 9, 2014

He snarls as well as chaffs at a world with the gout.

From Time Magazine Archive

He often chaffs me about it, Sam does. 

From Novel Notes by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome

He chaffs her tremendously about her radicalism, and he is so immensely clever that she can’t answer him, though she is rather clever too.

From A Bundle of Letters by Henry James

So he goes out with the young fellows, and all the way to the place where they are to fight, he chaffs and badgers them.

From The Eve of the French Revolution by Edward J. (Edward Jackson) Lowell

Meanwhile, Faulconer’s middle-ground politics have chaffed with some of his party’s conservative activists.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 2, 2021

These are a godsend for my inner thighs on long, sweaty summer runs, when they otherwise become a red chaffed mess.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2019

Congress stepped forward with enormous aid packages in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012, though some GOP conservatives — including then-Indiana Rep. Pence — chaffed at the price tag.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 28, 2017

Backstrom chaffed at Presidents' Trophy talk late last season after winning it in 2009 preceded a first-round exit.

From US News ● Oct. 3, 2016

Friends of mine chaffed me unmercifully over that topsy-turvy exploit.

From The Secrets of a Savoyard by Henry A. Lytton

It causes less chaffing than other bras I’ve owned, too.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2019

And it works very well to help prevent chaffing, too.

From Slate ● Jun. 8, 2019

I walked and ran through the heat of my chaffing toes and the cold of my shredded heels.

From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2018

At one point Mr Fucarile stops the interview - his new prosthetic leg is chaffing, and he is beginning to blister.

From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2014

Rondon kept his temper under control but made the chaffing remark, “Well, you have had a splendid bath, eh?”

From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple