Chaffing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Engaging in light-hearted teasing or joking with others ; the process of separating the inedible outer husks from grains or seeds
2. Making playful or humorous remarks that are not meant to offend ; the agricultural method of stripping away chaff from harvested crops
3. Joking in a good-natured manner often to amuse or provoke ; the act of cleaning grain by removing its outer husk or shell

Etymology: Chaffing is the present participle of "chaff," so its origin lies in the older sense of the noun. Chaff is the dry, papery husk that separates from grain when it is threshed, and for centuries it was simply the worthless material left after the good grain was sorted out. That contrast explains the figurative use: teasing someone is a way of "separating the chaff" from their dignity, treating their feelings as light and insubstantial, something to be tossed about rather than taken seriously. The verb's two senses, the agricultural and the playful, share the same root image. Threshing and winnowing grain sends the light husks flying, and in the same way banter tosses light remarks back and forth without weighing them down. The joking sense is the one most readers will recognise today, while the grain-cleaning sense survives in farming contexts where the husks are being removed.

Synonyms: teasing, mocking, ridiculing, taunting, joking

Antonyms: praising, complimenting, supporting, encouraging, approving