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

It will help separate the mathematical wheat from the chaff.

From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2026

It may do better to address the chaff of quarterly earnings guidance.

From Barron's ● Mar. 17, 2026

My peers would say we’ve always served that purpose, but sorting wheat from chaff isn’t the same as steering someone toward shows that are not simply satisfying but palliative.

From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2026

Hazel jumped lightly on it and from there to the thick planks, which were old and soft-surfaced, dusty and covered with chaff.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

“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

How she pulls all the other girls to pieces, by Jove, and how splendidly she chaffs everybody!

From The Newcomes Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family by Thackeray, William Makepeace

There is one scene in which Wrayburn chaffs the schoolmaster with easy insolence, while the latter writhes impotently under his well-bred sarcasm.

From Views and Reviews by James, Henry

For one brief moment you must admire Rooney with me as he receives, seats, manipulates, and chaffs his guests.

From Strictly business: more stories of the four million by Henry, O.

Other supporters chaffed at accusations that they are trying to ban books.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 24, 2024

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

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

I sent her a hundred dollars, the sum she specified, but in writing her thanks, she "chaffed" me for not making out a cheque.

From Lord John in New York by Williamson, A. M. (Alice Muriel)

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