chafe
chafe Lexical Profile
chafe Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To make or become sore, raw, or worn by rubbing against something.
"The stiff collar of the new shirt began to chafe his neck by midday."
To feel or express irritation, impatience, or discontent under a restriction or limitation.
"Independent-minded scholars often chafe under overly rigid administrative rules."
To rub a part of the body in order to restore warmth or sensation.
"After coming inside from the snowstorm, she chafed her freezing hands in front of the hearth."
• noun
Soreness, irritation, or damage caused to the skin or another surface by friction or rubbing.
"The thick wool socks helped prevent a painful chafe on his heels during the long mountain trek."
A state of annoyance, impatience, or fretfulness.
"He was in a constant chafe over the bureaucratic delays holding up his research grant."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'chafe' (to rub, irritate, or feel impatient) with 'chaff' (the husks of corn or grain separated by winnowing, or lighthearted teasing).
• Rhymes for chafe
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Middle English, from Old French 'chaufer' (to warm), derived from Late Latin 'calefare', a contraction of Classical Latin 'calefacere' (to make warm, from 'calere' meaning 'to be warm' and 'facere' meaning 'to make'). The sense shifted from warming by rubbing to irritating by rubbing.