chaff

Definitions

1. 1.Anything of a comparatively light and worthless character; the refuse part of anything. The chaff and ruin of the times. Shak.
2. 2.Straw or hay cut up fine for the food of cattle. By adding chaff to his corn, the horse must take more time to eat it. In this way chaff is very useful. Ywatt.
3. 3.Light jesting talk; banter; raillery.
4. 4.(Bot.) The scales or bracts on the receptacle, which subtend each flower in the heads of many Compositæ, as the sunflower. Gray. Chaff cutter, a machine for cutting, up straw, etc., into "chaff" for the use of cattle.
5. 5.To use light, idle lagnguage by way of fun or ridicule; to banter.
6. 6.To make fun of; to turn into ridicule by addressing in ironical or bantering language; to quiz. Morgan saw that his master was chaffing him. Thackeray. A dozen honest fellows . . . chaffed each other about their sweethearts. C. Kingsley.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Related questions

• What does "chaff" mean?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is chaff.

• What is anything of a comparatively light and worthless character; the refuse part of anything. The chaff and ruin of the times. Shak called?
• What is straw or hay cut up fine for the food of cattle. By adding chaff to his corn, the horse must take more time to eat it. In this way chaff is very useful. Ywatt called?
• What is to use light, idle lagnguage by way of fun or ridicule; to banter called?