▪ I. chafe, v.
(tʃeɪf)
Forms: 4 chaufe-n, chawffe, chafen, 4–6 chauffe, 5 chawfe, 4–6 chauf, chaffe, 5–7 chaufe, 6 chaafe, caff(e, chafen, 6–9 chaff, 5– chafe. pa. tense and pple. 4 chauffede, chaufid, chefede, chauffit, 4–6 chaufed, chauffed, 5 chaufet, chauffid, chaffyd, 6 caffed, chafde, chafte, chauft, chafid, 7 chaft, 5–9 chaffed, 5– chafed.
[ME. chaufe-n, a. OF. chaufe-r, mod. chauffer to warm = Pr. calfar, It. calefare:—late L. or Rom. *calefāre, contr. from L. calefacĕre to heat, make warm, f. calēre to be warm + facĕre to make. In Eng. the diphthong au was, as in other AF. words, reduced to long (aː), and this in regular phonetic course to (eɪ): cf. gauge, safe, Ralph, chamber.]
I. Transitive senses.
† 1. To warm, heat. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Isa. xliv. 15 He toc of hem, and is chaufed [1388 warmed]. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. xxxv, A schimnay of charcole, to chaufen the knyȝte. c 1440 Anc. Cookery in Househ. Ord. (1790) 455 Chauf hit over the fyre. 1525 Ld. Berners Froissart cxvi[xii]. 333 His bedde was wont to be chafed with a bason with hote coles. c 1535 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 940 To caffe or warme, chauffer. a 1577 Gascoigne Dulce Bellum inexp. Wks. (1587) 123 Whose grease hath molt all caffed as it was. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 108 To heat and chaufe any part of the bodie. 1657 S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. 331 Waxe when it is chafed will take an impression. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 86 It cannot be any vulgar furnace that hath chafed so cool a Salamander. |
† 2. fig. To inflame (the feelings), excite, warm, heat. Obs.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 128 Þat he wolde..cherisch hem alle with his cher, & chaufen her Ioye. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xv. 68 Leste cheste chaufe ous so and choppe ech man oþere. 1483 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 174 The goddesse of loue whiche kyndeleth and chauffeth the amerous hertes. c 1500 Melusine (1888) 22 Raymondyn, whiche was chaffed, doubted not of hys lyf. 1553 Brende Q. Curtius U vij, When he was chafed with drinking. 1682 Bunyan Holy War 81 Their continuing in rebellion did but chafe and heat the spirit of the Captains. 1691 Hartcliffe Virtues 79 The use now made of it [Dancing]..serves only to chaff the Blood. 1716 A. Horneck Crucif. Jesus 9 The Heart must be prepared, the Soul chafed, the Affections warmed. |
3. To rub with the hand; esp. to rub (a person's limbs, etc.) in order to restore warmth or sensation.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 68 Chafyn or rubbyn, frico. 1551 T. Wilson Logike 10 Waxe chaufed with the handes is made softer. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xxxiv. (1887) 122 The vse of chafing, and rubbing the body. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. xvi. 284 He took his arms..and chafed and rubbed them with his hands. 1842 Tennyson Morte d'Arthur 211 She..laid his head upon her lap..and chafed his hands. 1877 Bryant Lit. People of Snow 290 They..bore her home, and chafed her tender limbs. |
| absol. 1742 Fielding J. Andrews ii. v, She fell to chafing more violently. 1879 Browning Ivan Ivanovitch 54 Chafe away, keep chafing, for she moans: She's coming to! |
4. To rub so as to abrade or injure the surface; to fret, gall.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 256 All his ioyntes were..losed..his body so chafed. a 1547 Surrey æneid iv. 535 With their [ants'] travaile chafed is eche pathe. 1602 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 136 Wiche old book was frett and chafed. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. s.v., Seamen say..The Cable is chafed in the Hawse, when it is fretted or begun to be worn out there. 1787 ‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsem. (1809) 31 The flap of your saddle..chafing you between the confines of the boot and breeches. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxvi. 264 All the boats were badly chafed. 1861 F. Nightingale Nursing 92 How easily its tender skin gets chafed. |
b. With some mixture of sense 10 (to rage, fume).
| 1813 Scott Rokeby ii. vii, He..May view [the torrent] chafe her waves to spray, O'er every rock. |
5. fig. To heat or ruffle in temper; to vex, irritate.
| ? a 1400 Arthur 95 Arthour was chafed & wexed wrothe. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. i. xxiv. 75 To theym that be fyrst chaffed and angry. 1490 ― Eneydos xxvii. 97 Whan the see was well chaffed and..ayenst them sore moeued. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 243, I chafe you if I tarrie. Let me go. 1611 Bible 2 Sam. xvii. 8. 1635 N. R. tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. i. 73 Being frustrate of his hope, and sore chafed in minde. 1813 Hogg Queen's Wake 313 The youth was chaffed, and with disdain Refused to touch his harp again. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop lix. 267 To chafe and vex me is a part of her nature. |
† 6. To scold. Obs.
| c 1485 E.E. Misc. (1855) 11 For his hyre he doth me chawfe. 1549 Latimer Serm. bef. Edw. VI, vii. (Arb.) 197 We wyll..chyde, braule, fume, chaufe, and backbite them. 1637 Gillespie Eng. Pop. Cerem. iii. vi. 104 The Parret..being beaten and chaffed, returneth to its owne naturall voice. c 1677 Temple in Courtenay Mem. (1836) I. 499 The King..chafing us for spending him so much money, and doing nothing. |
b. slang. (See quot.; an ironical use of 1 or 3 or other prec. sense: cf. anoint.)
| 1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 36. 1690 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Chaft, well beaten or bang'd. |
II. Intransitive senses.
† 7. To become warm or hot. Obs.
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xviii. 49 Then grace sholde growe..And charite, þat child is now sholde chaufen of him-self. c 1450 Merlin 283 The day be-gan to chauffe, and the sonne was risen right high. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. ciii. [xcix.] 301 The dayes chafed meruaylously, for it was aboute mydsomer. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 407 He so chaufeth and moyleth in sturryng the coales. |
† 8. ? To spoil by heating, to undergo decomposition (? by heating or rubbing). Obs.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2301 They bussche[d] and bawmede þaire honourliche kynges, Sewed theme in sendelle sexti faulde aftire, Lappede them in lede, lesse that they schulde Chawnge or chawffe. 1470–85 Malory Arthur i. xcv. (1634) 169 Then laid them in chests of lead, because they should not chafe nor savour. |
9. To rub; to press or strike with friction (on, upon, against). (Often with mixture of other notions: cf. 10 c.)
| 1605 Shakes. Lear iv. vi. 21 The murmuring Surge, That on th' vnnumbred idle Pebble chafes. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. s.v., Seamen say, a Rope chafes, when it galls or frets, by rubbing against any rough and hard thing. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. i. xii, Is it the roar of Teviot's tide, That chafes against the scaur's red side? 1855 Maury Phys. Geog. Sea xiv. §599 If the currents chafe upon it. 1861 Holland Less. Life xiii. 178 As a caged bear chafes..against the walls of his cell. |
10. fig. To wax warm (in temper); to be angry, to rage; now usually, to display irritation of temper and impatience of restraint or obstacles, by fuming, fretting, and worrying oneself or others.
| 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. cxxiii. [cxix.] 348 If ye fynde hym harde and highe of wordes, chafe not with hym, treate hym swetely. 1535 Joye Apol. Tindale 32 The man began to fume and chaafe. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 26 b, Though you..chaufe and fume never so much agaynst him. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Church-Porch liii, Calmnesse is great advantage: he that lets Another chafe, may warm him at his fire: Mark all his wandrings, and enjoy his frets. 1760 Sterne Tr. Shandy II. 93, I never chaff, but take the good and the bad as they fall in my road. 1791 Cowper Iliad i. 172 Let the loser chafe. 1837 H. Martineau Soc. Amer. II. 78 The wilder adventurers..had chafed at his advice. 1843 Prescott Mexico vii. i. (1864) 416 While the exasperated prelate was chafing under this affront. 1864 Atkinson Whitby Gloss., Chaff, to chafe or chaffer, to quarrel. ‘They chaff'd at teean t'other varry sairly.’ 1879 Froude Cæsar xv. 246 The aristocratic party could but chafe in impotent rage. |
b. with complement.
| a 1561 G. Cavendish Wolsey (1825) I. 220 He had an occasion greatly to chafe or fret the heart out of his belly. |
c. Of the sea, etc.: To fret, rage, or fume. (Sometimes with a tinge of sense 9.)
| 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iii. iii. 89, I would you did but see how it chafes, how it rages, how it takes vp the shore. 1822 Procter (B. Cornwall) Flood of Thess. i. 477 The great sea chafes And the wild horses of the Atlantic shake Their sounding manes. 1840 Thirlwall Greece VII. liv. 35 Their conflicting waters roared and chafed in eddies and waves. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge lxiii, Chafing like an angry sea, the crowd pressed after them. |
▸ intr. fig. Chiefly N. Amer.to chafe at the bit: to be restlessly impatient or over-eager in the face of a delay or constraint; = to champ at the bit at champ v. Additions. Cf. sense 10.
| 1873 Appletons' Jrnl. 4 Jan. 198/3 The editor..must keep his opinions to himself or suffer the consequences. If he chafes at the bit, and rashly ventilates his thoughts, his paper is suppressed. 1894 Atlanta Constit. 23 Jan. 1/6 The champion..is eager for the fight to come. He is, as it were, chafing at the bit. 1933H. Miller Let. 20 Apr. in A. Nin & H. Miller Literate Passion (1989) 148 So don't get the idea that I am chafing at the bit. 1941 Times 17 Oct. 5/2 The militarists were chafing at the bit. 1990 N.Y. Woman June–July 87/2 When I wasn't working I did feel cheated... I was chafing at the bit to be out there and doing it. |
▪ II. chafe, n.
(tʃeɪf)
Also 6 chaufe, chauff, 7 chaff.
[f. prec. vb.]
1. Heat of mind or temper; rage, passion, fury; state of vexation, pet, ‘temper’. arch.
| 1551 R. Ascham Lett. Wks. 1865 I. ii. 312 The pope is in a wonderful chafe. 1566 T. Stapleton Ret. Untr. Jewell iv. 105 The Emperour answered in a great chafe. a 1593 H. Smith Wks. (1866–7) I. 176 He went away like Naaman in a chafe. a 1693 Urquhart Rabelais iii. xxviii. 238 A March-Hare was never in such a Chaff as I am. a 1703 Burkitt On N.T. Rom. xi. 15 That..I might see them at last believe for anger, or for very shame, and go to heaven in a holy chafe. 1823 Scott Peveril xxi, Into what an unprofitable chafe you have put yourself! 1825 Bull-baiting ii. in Houlston Tracts I. xxviii, To take bulls by the nose, and put them in a bit of a chafe. |
2. Rubbing, fretting, friction.
| 1848 Kingsley Saint's Trag. i. i. 84 The chafe Comes not by wearing chains, but feeling them. 1876 R. Burton Gorilla L. I. 71 Causing painful chafes and sores. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 66 They catch the chafe of the sail. |
3. A chafing against restraints.
| 1869 Pall Mall G. 9 Aug. 11 His utterances are..marked already with a restlessness of spirit, and move with a chafe and impetuosity of rhythm, that seem to bode revolt. |
4. Comb. † chafe-gall (see quot.); † chafe-, chaff-halter, cf. chase-. Also chafe-wax, etc.
| 1678 A. Littleton Lat. Dict., Intertrigo..a galling in a man or beast by going, riding, or rubbing of one thing against another; a chafegall. 1704 Worlidge Dict. Rust. s.v. Bridle, Chaff-Halter, a Woman's Bridle is the same, only it's double Rained. |