chaff

== English == === 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. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /t͡ʃæf/, /t͡ʃɑːf/ (US) IPA(key): /t͡ʃæf/ Rhymes: -æf === Noun === chaff (usually uncountable, plural chaffs) The inedible parts of a grain-producing plant. Coordinate term: bran Straw or hay cut up fine for the food of cattle. (figurative) Any excess or unwanted material, resource, or person; anything worthless. Light jesting talk; banter; raillery. (military) Loose material, e.g. small strips of aluminum foil dropped from aircraft, intended to interfere with radar detection. Synonym: window Hyponym: rope ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== paleaceous paleous === Verb === chaff (third-person singular simple present chaffs, present participle chaffing, simple past and past participle chaffed) (intransitive) To use light, idle language by way of fun or ridicule; to banter. (transitive) To make fun of; to turn into ridicule by addressing in ironical or bantering language. Synonym: quiz (transitive) To cut up (straw or hay) for use as cattle feed. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === “chaff”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. Chaff in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911) == Middle English == === Noun === chaff alternative form of chaf