noun
- the husks of grains and grasses that are separated during threshing.
- straw cut up for fodder.
- worthless matter; refuse.
- the membranous, usually dry, brittle bracts of the flowers of certain plants.
- Also called window. Military. strips of metal foil dropped by an aircraft to confuse enemy radar by creating false blips.
verb (used with or without object)
- to mock, tease, or jest in a good-natured way; banter: She chaffed him for working late. They joked and chaffed with each other.
noun
- good-natured ridicule or teasing; raillery.
noun
- the mass of husks, etc, separated from the seeds during threshing
- finely cut straw and hay used to feed cattle
- something of little worth; rubbish (esp in the phrase separate the wheat from the chaff)
- the dry membranous bracts enclosing the flowers of certain composite plants
- thin strips of metallic foil released into the earth’s atmosphere to confuse radar signals and prevent detection
noun
- light-hearted teasing or joking; banter
verb
- to tease good-naturedly; banter
“husks,” Old English ceaf “chaff,” probably from Proto-Germanic *kaf- “to gnaw, chew” (cf. Middle Dutch and Dutch kaf, German Kaff), from PIE root *gep(h)- “jaw, mouth” (see jowl (n.1)). Used figuratively for “worthless material” from late 14c.