CHAFF
What does "CHAFF" mean?
The dry husks separated from grain during threshing; by extension, worthless matter.
Meanings
- The husks of grain separated from the seed by threshing and winnowing. The wind carried the chaff away, leaving the heavier wheat behind.
- Worthless or trivial material; things of no value. A good editor separates the wheat from the chaff. figurative
- Strips of metal foil released by aircraft to confuse enemy radar. The jet dispensed chaff to throw off the incoming missile. technical
- To tease or banter good-naturedly. The old friends chaffed each other about their grey hair. informal
Did you know?
- In World War II, clouds of foil strips dropped to blind enemy radar were named 'chaff' - after the worthless husks of grain; the British called the same trick 'Window' when they first used it over Hamburg in 1943.
Word origin
From Old English 'ceaf' ('husks of grain'), of Germanic origin, related to Dutch 'kaf'; the radar-decoy sense was coined in World War II from the resemblance to scattered husks.
Remember it
CHAFF is the throwaway part of the harvest - and it sounds like 'chuff', the puff of waste you blow off the grain.
A little poem
Toss the threshed grain high-
the wind keeps the empty husks,
the hand keeps the seed.
haiku
Wordplay
- Separate the wheat from the chaff, they said. So I did - now I have a pile of jokes nobody wanted.
What it teaches
Most of what surrounds the thing you want is chaff - learn to let the wind take it.
Quick facts
What does CHAFF mean?
The dry husks separated from grain during threshing; by extension, worthless matter.
Is CHAFF a valid word?
Yes — CHAFF is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is CHAFF?
CHAFF has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does CHAFF come from?
From Old English 'ceaf' ('husks of grain'), of Germanic origin, related to Dutch 'kaf'; the radar-decoy sense was coined in World War II from the resemblance to scattered husks.
What can CHAFF teach us?
Most of what surrounds the thing you want is chaff - learn to let the wind take it.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.