Definition

1. Noun:

   • Lighthearted teasing or banter: "Chaff" can refer to good-natured joking or playful mockery between people.
   • The husks of grains or seeds separated during threshing: "Chaff" is the dry, protective casings of cereal grains that are removed as waste.
   • Thin strips of metal released to confuse radar: In military contexts, "chaff" refers to material ejected to create a false radar signal.

2. Verb:

   • To tease or joke in a friendly way: "Chaff" means to make good-humored fun of someone.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Teasing):

  • There was a lot of good-natured chaff in the locker room after the game.
  • He took the chaff from his colleagues about his new haircut in stride.

• Noun (Plant Material):

  • The farmer separated the wheat from the chaff.
  • The chaff was blown away by the wind.

• Noun (Military):

  • The aircraft deployed chaff to evade the enemy missile.

• Verb:

  • The friends chaffed each other about their old school days.
  • "Don't chaff him too much about his cooking," she said with a smile.

Advanced Usage

• "To separate the wheat from the chaff": To distinguish valuable people or things from worthless ones.
  • The rigorous interview process is designed to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Variants and Related Words

• Chaffy (adj): Resembling or consisting of chaff; worthless.
  • The old, chaffy documents were of no historical value.

Synonyms

• Noun (Teasing): Banter, jesting, raillery.
• Noun (Waste): Husks, refuse, dross.
• Verb: Tease, kid, jest, banter.

Related Idioms

• "To be caught with chaff": To be easily deceived or tricked.
• "To catch with chaff": To deceive someone easily.

Noun

1. foil in thin strips; ejected into the air as a radar countermeasure
2. material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds

Verb

1. be silly or tease one another
   • After we relaxed, we just kidded around