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chaff

Pronunciation: /t͡ʃæf/

The English word “chaff” has 8 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. The inedible parts of a grain-producing plant.
  2. Straw or hay cut up fine for the food of cattle.
  3. Any excess or unwanted material, resource, or person; anything worthless.
  4. Light jesting talk; banter; raillery.
  5. Loose material, e.g. small strips of aluminum foil dropped from aircraft, intended to interfere with radar detection.

verb

  1. To use light, idle language by way of fun or ridicule; to banter.
  2. To make fun of; to turn into ridicule by addressing in ironical or bantering language.
  3. To cut up (straw or hay) for use as cattle feed.

Etymology

From Middle English chaf, from Old English ċeaf, from Proto-West Germanic *kaf. Cognate with Scots caff, Saterland Frisian Sääf, West Frisian tsjêf, Dutch kaf, German Low German Kaff, regional German Kaff.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.