Chaff
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Chaff is the seed casings and other parts inedible to humans of plant matter harvested with cereal grains such as wheat. The chaff must be separated from the grain before use, by such techniques as threshing and wind winnowing. The word "Chaff" is also used to refer to something worthless, such as in the expression "separating the wheat from the chaff", meaning to find things of value and separate them from things of no value.
A horse and cattle feed
If hay, or less often straw, is cut into very short lengths by a specially designed machine (called a chaff cutter), and fed to horses or cattle it is called chaff. It can be fed to horses which have problems with their wind (breathing) to reduce the amount of dust they breath in while eating hay.
Radar countermeasure
Chaff (radar countermeasure) is a technique in which aircraft or other targets spread a cloud of small, thin bits of aluminum or plastic, which appears as a cluster of secondary targets on radar screens.
Nickname (similar to wingman)
A friend or person who is sometimes used to deflect attentions of a person or persons who are annoying or who's presence is otherwise unwanted.
e.g. "We call him Chaff because when he's around, Lisa, Rita and Julie leave us alone..."
External links
- [Antique Farm Tools]
- [modern chaff cutter]
- [A Victorian chaff cutter]
- [Painting of cutting chaff by hand]
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