chafe

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She began to chafe, and then to pine.

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Definitions (34)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (9)

  1. transitive verb To wear away or irritate by rubbing.
  2. transitive verb To annoy; vex.
  3. transitive verb To warm by rubbing, as with the hands.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (14)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (8)

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Examples (50)

  • But while we applaud his determination in battling 26 miles of nipple-chafe, Reynolds is running for more than just a good cause. —  Gawker
  • The break in the surface need not be visible as a chafe or scratch, but may be microscopic in size, so that the first sore seems to develop on what is, to all appearances, healthy surface. —  The Third Great Plague A Discussion of Syphilis for Everyday People
  • At these words his horse began to chafe, and strike the pavement with his fore feet; the stranger seemed a little bewildered, and said "No home to-night," and, giving the reins to his horse, passed up the street, and I saw no more of him It was evident that the generation to which Peter Rugg belonged had passed away This was all the account of Peter Rugg I could obtain from Mrs. Croft; but she directed me to an elderly man, Mr. James Felt, who lived near her, and who had kept a record of the principal occurrences for the last fifty years. —  Famous Stories Every Child Should Know
  • (Lord ARTHUR and I frequently do not speak for a week unless someone is present)--but I do not think these things should be made public, and besides, it is an unwritten law amongst "smart" people to avoid subjects that "chafe"--which sounds like an anachronism--whatever that means! —  Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 102, June 4, 1892
  • This made him fume and chafe, and vent his passion in a thousand threats and curses, so strange and various that it is impossible to repeat them. —  The Children's Hour, v 5. Stories From Seven Old Favorites
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same contextWord Family

chafe:   chafing ·  chafed ·  chafes
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English chafen, from Old French chaufer, to warm, from Vulgar Latin *calefāre, alteration of Latin calefacere : calēre, to be warm; see kelə-1 in Indo-European roots + facere, to make; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English chaufen, warm, heat, from Old French chaufer, French chauffer, warm, = Provencal calfar, from Latin calefacere, make warm, from calere, be warm, + facere, make. Cf. calefacient, calefy, and see chaff.
  2. from chafe, v.
 

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/tʃeɪf/
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