Chaff Meaning
/t͡ʃæf/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe inedible parts of a grain-producing plant.
nounStraw or hay cut up fine for the food of cattle.
Sentence Examples
Old birds are not caught with chaff.
That person's so stingy that he won't even let the mouse have the chaff.
It is difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The farmer used a machine to separate the wheat from the ____ before storage.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The farmer separated the grain from the ____ after the harvest city.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English chaf, from Old English ċeaf, from Proto-West Germanic *kaf. Cognate with Scots caff, Saterland Frisian Sääf, West Frisian tsjêf, Dutch kaf, German Low German Kaff, regional German Kaff.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"So take the corn and leave the chaff behind."
— 1700, [John] Dryden, “The Cock and the Fox: Or, The Tale of the Nun’s Priest, from Chaucer”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
"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:
"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:
"the chaff and ruin of the times"
— c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ix]:
"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:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The farmer used a machine to separate the wheat from the ____ before storage.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The farmer separated the grain from the ____ after the harvest city.