Chaff

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Chaff, n. [AC. ceaf; akin to D. kaf, G. kaff.].

•  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."  [1913 Webster]

  "Old birds are not caught with caff."  [1913 Webster]
•  Anything of a comparatively light and worthless character; the refuse part of anything.  [1913 Webster]

  "The chaff and ruin of the times."  [1913 Webster]
•  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."  [1913 Webster]
•  Light jesting talk; banter; raillery.  [1913 Webster]
•  The scales or bracts on the receptacle, which subtend each flower in the heads of many Compositæ, as the sunflower.  Gray.  [1913 Webster]

Chaff cutter, a machine for cutting, up straw, etc., into “chaff” for the use of cattle.

Chaff, v. i. 

 To use light, idle language by way of fun or ridicule; to banter.  [1913 Webster]

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."  [1913 Webster]
"A dozen honest fellows . . . chaffed each other about their sweethearts."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Chaff, n. & v.
--n.
1 the husks of corn or other seed separated by winnowing or threshing.
2 chopped hay and straw used as fodder.
3 light-hearted joking; banter.
4 worthless things; rubbish.
5 strips of metal foil released in the atmosphere to obstruct radar detection.
--v.
1 tr. & intr. tease; banter.
2 tr. chop (straw etc.).

Idiom

chaff-cutter a machine for chopping fodder. separate the wheat from the chaff distinguish good from bad.

Derivative

chaffy adj.

Etymology

OE ceaf, c{aelig}f prob. f. Gmc: sense 3 of n. & 1 of v. perh. f. CHAFE

THESAURUS

Chaff

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

ROGET THESAURUS

Chaff

Unimportance

N unimportance, insignificance, nothingness, immateriality, triviality, levity, frivolity, paltriness, poverty, smallness, vanity, matter of indifference, no object, nothing, nothing to signify, nothing worth speaking of, nothing particular, nothing to boast of, nothing to speak of, small matter, no great matter, trifling matter, mere joke, mere nothing, hardly anything, scarcely anything, nonentity, small beer, cipher, no great shakes, peu de chose, child's play, kinderspiel, toy, plaything, popgun, paper pellet, gimcrack, gewgaw, bauble, trinket, bagatelle, Rickshaw, knickknack, whim-wham, trifle, trifles light as air, yankee notions, trumpery, trash, rubbish, stuff, fatras, frippery, leather or prunello, chaff, drug, froth bubble smoke, cobweb, weed, refuse, scum, joke, jest, snap of the fingers, fudge, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end, pack of nonsense, mere farce, straw, pin, fig, button, rush, bulrush, feather, halfpenny, farthing, brass farthing, doit, peppercorn, jot, rap, pinch of snuff, old son, cent, mill, picayune, pistareen, red cent, minutiae, details, minor details, small fry, dust in the balance, feather in the scale, drop in the ocean, flea-bite, molehill, nine days' wonder, ridiculus mus, flash in the pan, much ado about nothing, unimportant, of little account, of small account, of no account, of little importance, of no importance, immaterial, unessential, nonessential, indifferent, subordinate, mediocre, passable, fair, respectable, tolerable, commonplace, uneventful, mere, common, ordinary, inconsiderable, so-so, insignificant, inappreciable, trifling, trivial, slight, slender, light, flimsy, frothy, idle, puerile, airy, shallow, weak, powerless, frivolous, petty, niggling, piddling, peddling, fribble, inane, ridiculous, farcical, finical, finikin, fiddle-faddle, fingle-fangle, namby-pamby, wishy-washy, milk and water, poor, paltry, pitiful, contemptible, sorry, mean, meager, shabby, miserable, wretched, vile, scrubby, scrannel, weedy, niggardly, scurvy, putid, beggarly, worthless, twopennyhalfpenny, cheap, trashy, catchpenny, gimcrack, trumpery, one- horse, not worth the pains, not worth while, not worth mentioning, not worth speaking of, not worth a thought, not worth a curse, not worth a straw, beneath notice, unworthy of notice, beneath regard, unworthy of regard, beneath consideration, unworthy of consideration, de lana caprina, vain, slightly, rather, somewhat, pretty well, tolerably, for aught one cares, Int, no matter!, pish!, tush!, tut!, pshaw!, pugh!, pooh, pooh-pooh!, fudge!, bosh!, humbug!, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end!, fiddlededee!, never mind!, n'importe!, what signifies it, what boots it, what of it, what of that, what matter, what's the odds, a fig for', stuff!, nonsense!, stuff and nonsense, magno conatu magnas nugas, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle, it matters not, it does not signify, it is of no consequence, it is of no importance, elephantus non capit murem, tempete dans un verre d'eau.

Ridicule

N ridicule, derision, sardonic smile, sardonic grin, irrision, scoffing, mockery, quiz, banter, irony, persiflage, raillery, chaff, badinage, quizzing, asteism, squib, satire, skit, quip, quib, grin, parody, burlesque, travesty, travestie, farce, caricature, buffoonery, practical joke, horseplay, scorn, contempt, derisory, derisive, mock, mocking, sarcastic, ironic, ironical, quizzical, burlesque, Hudibrastic, scurrilous, in ridicule.

VB ridicule, deride, mock, taunt, snigger, laugh in one's sleeve, tease, badinage, banter, rally, chaff, joke, twit, quiz, roast, haze, tehee, fleer, show up, play upon, play tricks upon, fool to the top of one's bent, laugh at, grin at, smile at, poke fun at, satirize, parody, caricature, burlesque, travesty, turn into ridicule, make merry with, make fun of, make game of, make a fool of, make an April fool of, rally, scoff, raise a laugh, play the fool, make a fool of oneself.

Commonalty

N commonality, commonalty, democracy, obscurity, low condition, low life, low society, low company, bourgeoisie, mass of the people, mass of society, Brown Jones and Robinson, lower classes, humbler classes, humbler orders, vulgar herd, common herd, rank and file, hoc genus omne, the many, the general, the crowd, the people, the populace, the multitude, the million, the masses, the mobility, the peasantry, king Mob, proletariat, fruges consumere nati, demos, hoi polloi, great unwashed, man in the street, mob, rabble, rabble rout, chaff, rout, horde, canaille, scum of the people, residuum of the people, dregs of the people, dregs of society, swinish multitude, foex populi, trash, profanum vulgus, ignobile vulgus, vermin, riffraff, ragtag and bobtail, small fry, commoner, one of the people, democrat, plebeian, republican, proletary, proletaire, roturier, Mr, Snooks, bourgeois, epicier, Philistine, cockney, grisette, demimonde, peasant, countryman, boor, carle, churl, villain, villein, terrae filius, son of the land, serf, kern, tyke, tike, chuff, ryot, fellah, longshoreman, swain, clown, hind, clod, clodhopper, hobnail, yokel, bog-trotter, bumpkin, plowman, plowboy, rustic, hayseed, lunkhead, chaw-bacon, tiller of the soil, hewers of wood and drawers of water, groundling, gaffer, loon, put, cub, Tony Lumpkin, looby, rube, lout, underling, gamin, rough, pot- wallopper, slubberdegullion, vulgar fellow, low fellow, cad, curmudgeon, upstart, parvenu, skipjack, nobody, nobody one knows, hesterni quirites, pessoribus orti, bourgeois gentilhomme, novus homo, snob, gent, mushroom, no one knows who, adventurer, man of straw, beggar, gaberlunzie, muckworm, mudlark, sans culotte, raff, tatterdemalion, caitiff, ragamuffin, Pariah, outcast of society, tramp, vagabond, bezonian, panhandler, sundowner, chiffonnier, Cinderella, cinderwench, scrub, jade, gossoon, Goth, Vandal, Hottentot, Zulu, savage, barbarian, Yahoo, unlicked cub, rough diamond, barbarousness, barbarism, boeotia, ignoble, common, mean, low, base, vile, sorry, scrubby, beggarly, below par, no great shakes, homely, homespun, vulgar, low-minded, snobbish, plebeian, proletarian, of low parentage, of low origin, of low extraction, of mean parentage, of mean origin, of mean extraction, lowborn, baseborn, earthborn, mushroom, dunghill, risen from the ranks, unknown to fame, obscure, untitled, rustic, uncivilized, loutish, boorish, clownish, churlish, brutish, raffish, rude, unlicked, barbarous, barbarian, barbaric, barbaresque, cockney, born within sound of Bow bells, underling, menial, subaltern, below the salt, dummodo sit dives barbarus ipse placet.