Noun

(-)

Grain that is to be ground in a mill.

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)

, title= Geothermal Energy , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.}}

(obsolete) A group of bees.

(colloquial, obsolete) Supply; provision.

(Jonathan Swift)

(ropemaking) A given size of rope, common grist being a rope three inches in circumference, with twenty yarns in each of the three strands.

(Knight)

Noun

(-)

The inedible parts of a grain-producing plant.

To separate out the chaff , early cultures tossed baskets of grain into the air and let the wind blow away the lighter chaff.

* Dryden

So take the corn and leave the chaff behind.

By extension, any excess or unwanted material, resource, or person; anything worthless.

There are plenty of good books on the subject, but take care to separate the wheat from the chaff .

* Shakespeare

the chaff and ruin of the times

Loose material dropped from aircraft specifically to interfere with radar detection.

Straw or hay cut up fine for the food of cattle.

* Wyatt

By adding chaff' to his corn, the horse must take more time to eat it. In this way ' chaff is very useful.

Light jesting talk; banter; raillery.