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Meaning of CHAFF

Pronunciation:  chaf

WordNet Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. [n]  foil in thin strips; ejected into the air as a radar countermeasure
  2. [n]  material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds
  3. [v]  be silly or tease one another; "After we relaxed, we just kidded around"
 
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 Synonyms: banter, husk, jolly, josh, kid, shuck, stalk, straw, stubble
 
 See Also: bait, bran, cod, foil, plant material, rag, rally, razz, ride, tantalise, tantalize, taunt, tease, twit

 

 

Webster's 1913 Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. \Chaff\, n. [AC. ceaf; akin to D. kaf, G. kaff.]
    1. The glumes or husks of grains and grasses separated from
       the seed by threshing and winnowing, etc.
             So take the corn and leave the chaff behind.
                                                   --Dryden.
             Old birds are not caught with caff.   --Old Proverb.
    2. Anything of a comparatively light and worthless character;
       the refuse part of anything.
             The chaff and ruin of the times.      --Shak.
    3. Straw or hay cut up fine for the food of cattle.
             By adding chaff to his corn, the horse must take
             more time to eat it. In this way chaff is very
             useful.                               --Ywatt.
    4. Light jesting talk; banter; raillery.
    5. (Bot.) The scales or bracts on the receptacle, which
       subtend each flower in the heads of many Composit[ae], as
       the sunflower. --Gray.
    {Chaff cutter}, a machine for cutting, up straw, etc., into
       ``chaff'' for the use of cattle.
    
  2. \Chaff\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Chaffed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
    {Chaffing}.]
    To use light, idle language by way of fun or ridicule; to
    banter.
    
  3. \Chaff\, v. t.
    To make fun of; to turn into ridicule by addressing in
    ironical or bantering language; to quiz.
          Morgan saw that his master was chaffing him.
                                                   --Thackeray.
          A dozen honest fellows . . . chaffed each other about
          their sweethearts.                       --C. Kingsley.
    
 
Biology Dictionary
 
 Definition: Thin, membranous scales or bracts; thin, dry unfertilised ovules among the fully developed seeds of a fruit.
 
Easton Bible Dictionary
 
 Definition: 

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).

 
Thesaurus Terms
 
 Related Terms: afterglow, afterimage, air, aluminum foil, badinage, balance, banter, bark, barrack, bones, bran, bric-a-brac, bubble, butt, butt end, candle ends, capsule, case, cattle, chicken feed, chickenshit, chip, cobweb, cork, corn shuck, cornhusk, culm, cut at, deadwood, debris, details, detritus, dig at, dishwater, down, draff, dregs, dregs of society, dump on, dust, end, ether, exchange, fag end, fairy, feather, filings, fleer, flout, flue, fluff, foam, fooling, fooling around, fossil, froth, fun, fuzz, garbage, gash, gibe, gimcrackery, give-and-take, good-natured banter, gossamer, harmless teasing, haze, hogwash, holdover, hull, husk, husks, jab, jab at, jacket, jape, jeer, jest, jive, joke, joking, jolly, josh, joshing, kid, kidding, kidding around, knickknackery, leavings, lees, leftovers, minutiae, mock, mote, needle, odds and ends, offal, offscourings, offscum, orts, palea, parings, peanuts, peel, persiflage, pleasantry, pod, pooh, pooh-pooh, potsherds, put down, put on, raff, rag, ragging, rags, rail at, raillery, rally, rallying, rank out, raspings, razz, refuse, relics, remainder, remains, remnant, residue, residuum, rest, revile, rib, ride, ridicule, riffraff, rind, roach, roast, rubbish, ruins, rump, sawdust, scoff, scourings, scout, scrap iron, scraps, scum, shadow, shards, shavings, shell, shuck, skin, slack, slag, slam, slap at, slop, slops, small beer, small change, sneer, sneer at, sordes, sponge, sport, spume, straw, stubble, stump, survival, sweepings, swill, swinish multitude, swipe, tares, taunt, tease, teasing, thistledown, tinfoil, trace, trash, trifles, trivia, trumpery, twit, twitting, vermin, vestige, wastage, waste, waste matter, wastepaper, weeds, window
 

 

 

 

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