chaffer
1 Americannoun
verb (used without object)
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to bargain; haggle.
to chaffer over a price.
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to bandy words; chatter.
to chaffer about nothing in particular.
verb (used with object)
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to bandy (words).
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Obsolete. to trade or deal in; barter.
noun
verb
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(intr) to haggle or bargain
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to chatter, talk, or say idly; bandy (words)
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obsolete (tr) to deal in; barter
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of chaffer1
1175–1225; Middle English chaffare, derivative of chapfare trading journey, equivalent to Old English cēap trade ( see cheap) + faru journey; see fare
Origin of chaffer2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There appraisers sit with ancient scales, chaffer to the utmost kran,* seal their purchase with a solemn glass of tea.
From Time Magazine Archive
Round and chaffer small end the same, almost to an edge.
From Deadfalls and Snares A Book of Instruction for Trappers About These and Other Home-Made Traps by A. R. (Arthur Robert) Harding
Brought face to face with the question of work and 205 wage, all the shrewd calculating instincts of a race of women accustomed to chaffer and bargain awoke within her.
From A Singer from the Sea by Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr
I wisht I'd 'a' had him runnin' the 'Guzzuh' instead of that little chicken-breasted chaffer they three-shelled on to me in Los Angeles.
From Overland Red A Romance of the Moonstone Cañon Trail by Anton Otto Fischer
He began to chaffer and bargain with himself, and availed himself of the expedient which the weak and dishonest are always ready to employ,--he carried the war into the enemy's camp.
From Seed-time and Harvest A Novel by Fritz Reuter
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
