chaff
/t͡ʃæf/ verb C2- To use light, idle language by way of fun or ridicule; to banter.
- To make fun of; to turn into ridicule by addressing in ironical or bantering language.
- To cut up (straw or hay) for use as cattle feed.
He/she/it chaffs · Past chaffed · Past participle chaffed · -ing form chaffing
Verb forms
- Base form
- chaff
- He/she/it
- chaffs
- Past
- chaffed
- Past participle
- chaffed
- -ing form
- chaffing
From the library
But when the war was over, he only allowed him chaff to eat and made him carry heavy loads of wood, subjecting him to much slavish drudgery and ill-treatment.
“I wouldn’t have the Scotland Yarders know it for the world,” he cried, dropping into his chair; “I have chaffed them so much that they would never have let me hear the end of it.
You may possibly remember that you chaffed me a little, some hours ago, when the sun seemed on your side of the hedge, so you must not grudge me a little pomp and ceremony now.
Besides, I owed you a little mystification, Lestrade, for your chaff in the morning.”
Other matches
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