chaff

Etymology

From Middle English chaf, from Old English ċeaf, from Proto-West Germanic *kaf, from Proto-Germanic *kafą. Cognate with Scots caff, Saterland Frisian Sääf, West Frisian tsjêf, Dutch kaf, German Low German Kaff, regional German Kaff.

noun

1. The inedible parts of a grain-producing plant.
   Coordinate term: bran
   To separate out the chaff, early cultures tossed baskets of grain into the air and let the wind blow away the lighter chaff.
   In the passage outside the door, the threshers, who had done their day's work, were stamping the snow off their feet before they came in, - their hair full of chaff. 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 251
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, and time is given for the commencement of digestion, before fermentation can occur. In this way chaff is very useful, especially after long fasts. 1831, William Youatt, The Horse, page 130
3. (figurative) Any excess or unwanted material, resource, or person; anything worthless.
   Who that has prided himself on his spiritual strength has not seen it humbled to the dust? A knowledge of religion, as distinguished from experience, seems but chaff in such moments of trial. 1927-1929, Mahatma Gandhi, chapter XXI, in Mahadev Desai, transl., The Story of My Experiments with Truth, published 1940
4. Light jesting talk; banter; raillery.
5. (military) Loose material, e.g. small strips of aluminum foil dropped from aircraft, intended to interfere with radar detection.

verb

1. (intransitive) To use light, idle language by way of fun or ridicule; to banter.
2. (transitive) To make fun of; to turn into ridicule by addressing in ironical or bantering language; to quiz.
3. (transitive) To cut up (straw or hay) for use as cattle feed.