chaff less (chafles)

[ The gods made you, Unlike all others, chaff le . Shak ., Cymbeline, i. 7. chaffo (chaf'ō), v. [E. dial., var. of chavel , q. v.] chaffer1 (chaf'er), n. [ chaffere , chaff are , chaffar, cheffare, earlier chapfare, cheap fare, To chew. Grose. bargaining, trade, merchandise (= Icel. kaup- för , a journey), cheap , chep , a bargain, trade, + fare , a going, journey, doing, affair, busine : see cheap , n., and fare, n.] 1t. Merchandise; wares; goods; traffic. prysone. IMG:content-0109.png:[blocks in formation] II. in trans. 1. To treat about a purchase or contract; bargain; haggle: as, to chaffer with a fish woman or a hackman. Nor rode himself to Paul's, the public fair, To chaffer for preferments with his gold, Where bishoprics and sinecures are sold. Dryden , Character of a Good Parson, 1. 70. 2. To talk much and idly; chatter: as, "the chaffering sparrow," Mrs. Browning . chaffer2 (chaf'er), n. Same as chafer2 , 4. chaffer3 (chaf'er), n. [ chaff 2 + -er1.] One who employs chaff or light raillery. [Colloq.] She was considered the best chaffer on the road; not one of them could stand against her tongue. Mayhew. chafferer (chaf'er-er), n. One who chaffers; a bargainer; a buyer. chaffering (chaf'er-ing), n. [Verbal n. of chaf fer1, v.] 1. Bargaining; trading.-2. Wordy talk and haggling. Long ere heat of noon, From byre or field the kine were brought; the sheep Are penned in cotes; the chaffering is begun. Words worth , Prelude, viii. If the Florentines had laid aside their niggardly chaffer ing about the price, they might have diverted the storm. J. Adams, Works, IV. 119.