different between raillery vs chaff

English

Etymology

From French raillerie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??e?l??i/

Noun

raillery (countable and uncountable, plural railleries)

1. Good-natured ridicule, jest or banter.
   • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, chapter XVIII:

     Excitement instantly seized the whole party: a running fire of raillery and jests was proceeding when Sam returned.

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