Chaff

/tʃæf/

Meaning & Definition

noun

The husks of corn or other seed separated by winnowing or threshing.

After the harvest, the field was covered with chaff left by the grain.

Worthless or trivial matters; nonsense.

The debate was filled with chaff, distracting from the real issues at hand.

Material that is discarded or considered of little value.

He was able to separate the important information from the chaff in the report.

verb

To remove the chaff from (grain) by a process of winnowing or threshing.

Farmers chaff the wheat to ensure that only the grains are collected.

To tease or make fun of someone.

The friends would often chaff each other about their sports teams.

Middle English: from Old English ceaf, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch kaf and German Kaffe.

separating the wheat from the chaff

Distinguishing valuable from worthless.

chaff and chatter

Trivial talk or noise.

grain

Edible seeds or fruits of cultivated plants.

thresh

To separate grain from its husk.

husks

The dry outer covering of a seed or grain.

Nonsense or trivial matter.

He always talks so much chaff at parties.

Something that lacks substance.

All those flashy ads are just chaff; the product doesn't live up to the hype.