chafing

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chafe

(chāf)

v. chafed, chaf·ing, chafes

v.tr.

1. To wear away or irritate by rubbing or friction: The collar chafed my neck.

2. To annoy; vex: "It chafed him no end to be under obligation to her" (Carson McCullers).

3. To warm by rubbing, as with the hands.

v.intr.

1. To cause irritation by rubbing or friction: The high collar chafed against my neck.

2. To become worn or sore from rubbing or friction: His skin chafed where the cast had been.

3. To feel irritated or impatient: They chafed at the delay. The reporters chafed under the new restrictions.

1. Warmth, wear, or soreness produced by friction.

2. Annoyance; vexation.

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

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Noun

chafing - soreness or irritation of the skin caused by friction

intertrigo - chafing between two skin surfaces that are in contact (as in the armpit or under the breasts or between the thighs)

soreness, tenderness, rawness - a pain that is felt (as when the area is touched); "the best results are generally obtained by inserting the needle into the point of maximum tenderness"; "after taking a cold, rawness of the larynx and trachea come on"

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References in classic literature ?

And glad should we be, could we inform the reader that both these bodies had been attended with equal success; for those who undertook the care of the lady succeeded so well, that, after the fit had continued a decent time, she again revived, to their great satisfaction: but as to the captain, all experiments of bleeding, chafing, dropping, &c., proved ineffectual.

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One man, squatting on the floor between his outstretched feet and elevating them by resting them on his knees, was violently chafing his legs.

His seconds worked over him furiously, chafing his legs, slapping his abdomen, stretching the hip-cloth out with their fingers so that he might breathe more easily.

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So, Delia said she must give music lessons to keep the chafing dish bubbling.

You should have seen him run for the chafing dish, Joe, just as if there wasn't a servant in the house.

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The rasping, scorching sands were a man's hard hands chafing my naked chest.

The man addressed as Yonson, a man of the heavy Scandinavian type, ceased chafing me, and arose awkwardly to his feet.

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The poor schoolmaster sat in the same place, holding the small cold hand in his, and chafing it.

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