Library / English Dictionary

CHAFE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Anger produced by some annoying irritation

Synonyms:

annoyance; chafe; vexation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("chafe" is a kind of...):

anger; choler; ire (a strong emotion; a feeling that is oriented toward some real or supposed grievance)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "chafe"):

irritation; pique; temper (a sudden outburst of anger)

frustration (a feeling of annoyance at being hindered or criticized)

aggravation; exasperation (an exasperated feeling of annoyance)

harassment; torment (a feeling of intense annoyance caused by being tormented)

displeasure (the feeling of being displeased or annoyed or dissatisfied with someone or something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Soreness and warmth caused by friction

Example:

he had a nasty chafe on his knee

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("chafe" is a kind of...):

rawness; soreness; tenderness (a pain that is felt (as when the area is touched))

Derivation:

chafe (warm by rubbing, as with the hands)

chafe (cause friction)

chafe (tear or wear off the skin or make sore by abrading)

chafe (become or make sore by or as if by rubbing)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Warm by rubbing, as with the hands

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "chafe" is one way to...):

warm (make warm or warmer)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

chafe (soreness and warmth caused by friction)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause friction

Example:

my sweater scratches

Synonyms:

chafe; fray; fret; rub; scratch

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "chafe" is one way to...):

adjoin; contact; meet; touch (be in direct physical contact with; make contact)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

chafe (soreness and warmth caused by friction)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Tear or wear off the skin or make sore by abrading

Example:

This leash chafes the dog's neck

Synonyms:

chafe; excoriate

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "chafe" is one way to...):

abrade; abrase; corrade; rub down; rub off (wear away)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

chafe (soreness and warmth caused by friction)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations

Example:

It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves

Synonyms:

annoy; bother; chafe; devil; get at; get to; gravel; irritate; nark; nettle; rag; rile; vex

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "chafe" is one way to...):

displease (give displeasure to)

Verb group:

chafe (feel extreme irritation or anger)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "chafe"):

get; get under one's skin (irritate)

eat into; fret; grate; rankle (gnaw into; make resentful or angry)

peeve (cause to be annoyed, irritated, or resentful)

ruffle (trouble or vex)

fret (cause annoyance in)

beset; chevvy; chevy; chivvy; chivy; harass; harry; hassle; molest; plague; provoke (annoy continually or chronically)

antagonise; antagonize (provoke the hostility of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 5

Meaning:

Feel extreme irritation or anger

Example:

He was chafing at her suggestion that he stay at home while she went on a vacation

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "chafe" is one way to...):

experience; feel (undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind)

Verb group:

annoy; bother; chafe; devil; get at; get to; gravel; irritate; nark; nettle; rag; rile; vex (cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 6

Meaning:

Become or make sore by or as if by rubbing

Synonyms:

chafe; fret; gall

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "chafe" is one way to...):

irritate (excite to an abnormal condition, or chafe or inflame)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

chafe (soreness and warmth caused by friction)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Presently she came to the top of a hill, down the side of which there was a road so narrow that the cart wheels always chafed the trees on each side as they passed.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Johnson, the man who had chafed me raw when I first came aboard, seemed the least equivocal of the men forward or aft.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

But if the narrowness of the village life chafed my easy spirit, it was a torture to the keen and ardent mind of Boy Jim.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She repressed a smile at sight of the red line that marked the chafe of the collar against the bronzed neck.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The old soldiers of Crecy, of Nogent, and of Poictiers were glad to think that they might hear the war-trumpet once more, and gladder still were the hot youth who had chafed for years under the martial tales of their sires.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Oh! answered she, I used the butter to grease those poor trees that the wheels chafed so: and one of the cheeses ran away so I sent the other after it to find it, and I suppose they are both on the road together somewhere.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

When I had closed the door, and followed, with the umbrella in my hand, I found her sitting on the corner of the fender—it was a low iron one, with two flat bars at top to stand plates upon—in the shadow of the boiler, swaying herself backwards and forwards, and chafing her hands upon her knees like a person in pain.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"Well, Helen?" said I, putting my hand into hers: she chafed my fingers gently to warm them, and went on—If all the world hated you, and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved you, and absolved you from guilt, you would not be without friends.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I was too tired to thrash my arms about and warm myself, but I found strength time and again to chafe her hands and feet to restore the circulation.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

How I had chafed and longed for the wonders of town, and yet, now that I had seen more than my wildest dreams had ever deemed possible, my eyes had rested upon nothing which was so sweet and so restful as our own little sitting-room, with its terra-cotta-coloured walls, and those trifles which are so insignificant in themselves, and yet so rich in memories—the blow-fish from the Moluccas, the narwhal’s horn from the Arctic, and the picture of the Ca Ira, with Lord Hotham in chase!

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)