chaff1
/tʃɑːf
/ /tʃaf /noun [mass noun]
1The husks of corn or other seed separated by winnowing or threshing.Spikes were threshed and florets (hereafter called seeds) separated from chaff by sieving and forced-air separation....
- The chaff is winnowed out by the activities of millions of independent actions.
- Then the chaff - the husks and debris - was ‘winnowed’ or blown off the heavier grain with the aid of the wind or with fans.
Synonyms
husks, hulls, bran, pods, seed cases, shells, capsules, sheaths;
North American shucks
1.1Chopped hay and straw used as fodder.They each get through six buckets of chaff, hay, bran and molasses a day, plus all the mints, carrots and apples they are given by grateful landlords and landladies on their delivery round....
- He always had bran, pollard, hay and chaff on hand and would pay the highest prices for dairy produce.
- I think the real danger if you take them off a balancer or trace element supplement and just feed them chaff or local stuff then they can become short of breath.
2Worthless things; rubbish: he hopes to separate scientifically supported claims from pseudoscientific chaff...
- His article crosses the line from constructive and thoughtful criticism to contrarian polemic, the net effect being a dilution of truly worthwhile lessons at the expense of extraneous chaff.
- Which is a shame because strip away the chaff and you will find an interesting, diverse artist who has produced an impressive body of work.
- Most morality and the things which provoke the ‘Angry of Tunbridge Wells’ letters are all just chaff when compared to the real things which have been sorted out and the things which do need sorting out in the world.
Synonyms
rubbish, refuse, waste, garbage, litter, discarded matter, debris, detritus, scrap, dross;
flotsam and jetsam, lumber;
sweepings, leavings, leftovers, remains, scraps, dregs, offscourings, odds and ends;
muck;
North American trash;
Australian/New Zealand mullock
informal dreck, junk
British informal grot, gash
Archaeology debitage
rare draff, raff, raffle, cultch, orts
3Strips of metal foil released in the air to obstruct radar detection.The countermeasures system includes a pilot illumination radar warning receiver, chaff and infrared decoy dispensers, and an active multi-mode jammer located in the wingtip pods....
- For operational roles, the aircraft is fitted with a radar warning receiver, chaff and flares dispensers, and active electronic countermeasures.
- DAG will include missile warning system, radar warning receiver, towed radar decoy and chaff and flare dispensers.
Phrases
separate (or sort) the wheat from the chaff
Origin
Old English cæf, ceaf, probably from a Germanic base meaning 'gnaw'; related to Dutch kaf, also to chafer.
Rhymes
chaff2
/tʃɑːf/ /tʃaf /noun [mass noun]
Light-hearted joking; banter: we used to come in for a fair amount of ribbing and good-natured chaff...
- Made us roar in the mess, though I've had to put up with a certain amount of good-natured chaff about having a father who reads the Guardian, let alone writes for it!
- Every one had a hearty welcome for my people, and some good-natured chaff about their having "buried themselves" so long.
- The air was full of good-natured chaff and badinage between persons who had never seen each other before and never expected to again.
Synonyms
banter, repartee, raillery, ripostes, sallies, quips, wisecracks, crosstalk, wordplay, teasing, ragging;
badinage, witty conversation, witty remarks, witticism(s), joking, jesting, jocularity, drollery;
French bons mots
informal kidding, kidology, ribbing, joshing, wisecracking
rare persiflage
verb [with object]
Tease: the pleasures of drinking and betting and chaffing your mates...
- Manda had a feeling he enjoyed chaffing Michael and making his life miserable, but she had no idea why.
- It seemed the whole city was en fate as rival supporters with all manner of blue-and-white manifestations chaffed one another good-humoredly and cheered loudly.
- Still they laughed and called to each other at the joy of returning home, and chaffed one another in loud voices.
Synonyms
tease, make fun of, poke fun at, rag, mock, laugh at, guy;
deride, ridicule, scoff at, jeer at, jibe at;
taunt, bait, goad, pick on
informal take the mickey out of, send up, rib, josh, kid, wind up, have on, pull someone's leg, make a monkey out of
North American informal goof on, rag on, put on, pull someone's chain, razz, fun, shuck
Australian/New Zealand informal poke mullock at, poke borak at, sling off at, chiack
British vulgar slang take the piss out of
archaic make sport of, twit, quiz, smoke, flout at, rally
Origin
Early 19th century: perhaps from chafe.