different between chaff vs shuck

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /t?æf/, /t???f/
• (US) IPA^(key): /t?æf/
• Rhymes: -æf

Noun

chaff (usually uncountable, plural chaffs)

1. The inedible parts of a grain-producing plant.

   Coordinate term: bran

   • So take the corn and leave the chaff behind.
2. Straw or hay cut up fine for the food of cattle.
3. (figuratively) Any excess or unwanted material, resource, or person; anything worthless.
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.

   Synonym: window

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• paleaceous
• paleous

Verb

chaff (third-person singular simple present chaffs, present participle chaffing, simple past and past participle chaffed)

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.

Translations

References

• chaff in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

• Chaff in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Middle English

Noun

chaff

1. Alternative form of chaf

English

Etymology

Origin unknown.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??k/
• Rhymes: -?k

Noun

shuck (plural shucks)

1. The shell or husk, especially of grains (e.g. corn/maize) or nuts (e.g. walnuts).
   • 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Library of America, 1985, p.46:

     There was no linen, no pillow, and when she touched the mattress it gave forth the faint dry whisper of shucks.

2. (slang, African-American Vernacular) A fraud; a scam.
3. (slang) A phony.

Verb

shuck (third-person singular simple present shucks, present participle shucking, simple past and past participle shucked)

1. (transitive) To remove the shuck from (walnuts, oysters, etc.).

   Shall we shuck walnuts?

2. (transitive) To remove (any outer covering).

   I will shuck my clothes and dive naked into the pool.

3. (transitive, intransitive, slang) To fool; to hoax.

Derived terms

• shuck and jive

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “shuck”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• Hucks, hucks