From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
chaff
n 1: material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of
stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds
[syn: husk, shuck, stalk, straw, stubble]
2: foil in thin strips; ejected into the air as a radar
countermeasure
v : be silly or tease one another; "After we relaxed, we just
kidded around" [syn: kid, jolly, josh, banter]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Chaff \Chaff\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Chaffed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Chaffing.]
To use light, idle language by way of fun or ridicule; to
banter.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Chaff \Chaff\, v. t.
To make fun of; to turn into ridicule by addressing in
ironical or bantering language; to quiz.
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Morgan saw that his master was chaffing him.
--Thackeray.
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A dozen honest fellows . . . chaffed each other about
their sweethearts. --C. Kingsley.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Chaff \Chaff\, n. [AC. ceaf; akin to D. kaf, G. kaff.]
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1. The glumes or husks of grains and grasses separated from
the seed by threshing and winnowing, etc.
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So take the corn and leave the chaff behind.
--Dryden.
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Old birds are not caught with caff. --Old Proverb.
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2. Anything of a comparatively light and worthless character;
the refuse part of anything.
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The chaff and ruin of the times. --Shak.
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3. Straw or hay cut up fine for the food of cattle.
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By adding chaff to his corn, the horse must take
more time to eat it. In this way chaff is very
useful. --Ywatt.
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4. Light jesting talk; banter; raillery.
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5. (Bot.) The scales or bracts on the receptacle, which
subtend each flower in the heads of many Composit[ae], as
the sunflower. --Gray.
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Chaff cutter, a machine for cutting, up straw, etc., into
"chaff" for the use of cattle.
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