ZebraWords.com - The Definition of 'Chaff', Synonyms of 'Chaff' & More on 'Chaff'

1. WordNet® 3.0 (2006)

chaff
    n 1: material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of
         stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds
         [syn: chaff, husk, shuck, stalk, straw,
         stubble]
    2: foil in thin strips; ejected into the air as a radar
       countermeasure
    v 1: be silly or tease one another; "After we relaxed, we just
         kidded around" [syn: kid, chaff, jolly, josh,
         banter]

2. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Chaff \Chaff\, n. [AC. ceaf; akin to D. kaf, G. kaff.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. The glumes or husks of grains and grasses separated from
      the seed by threshing and winnowing, etc.
      [1913 Webster]

            So take the corn and leave the chaff behind.
                                                  --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

            Old birds are not caught with caff.   --Old Proverb.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Anything of a comparatively light and worthless character;
      the refuse part of anything.
      [1913 Webster]

            The chaff and ruin of the times.      --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Straw or hay cut up fine for the food of cattle.
      [1913 Webster]

            By adding chaff to his corn, the horse must take
            more time to eat it. In this way chaff is very
            useful.                               --Ywatt.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. Light jesting talk; banter; raillery.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. (Bot.) The scales or bracts on the receptacle, which
      subtend each flower in the heads of many Composit[ae], as
      the sunflower. --Gray.
      [1913 Webster]

   Chaff cutter, a machine for cutting, up straw, etc., into
      "chaff" for the use of cattle.
      [1913 Webster]

3. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Chaff \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.
   [1913 Webster]

4. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Chaff \Chaff\, v. t.
   To make fun of; to turn into ridicule by addressing in
   ironical or bantering language; to quiz.
   [1913 Webster]

         Morgan saw that his master was chaffing him.
                                                  --Thackeray.
   [1913 Webster]

         A dozen honest fellows . . . chaffed each other about
         their sweethearts.                       --C. Kingsley.
   [1913 Webster]

5. Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

Chaff
   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 Results for chaff:

1. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

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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