Word.ws English Dictionary

chafing

/ˈtʃeɪfɪŋ/

chafing is the present participle and gerund of chafe.

Meaning of chafe

Verb

chafe (third-person singular simple present chafes, present participle chafing, simple past and past participle chafed)

  1. (transitive) To excite heat in by friction; to rub in order to stimulate and make warm.
  2. (figuratively, transitive) To excite passion or anger in; to fret; to irritate.
  3. (transitive) To fret and wear by rubbing.
    • to chafe a cable
  4. (intransitive) To rub; to come together so as to wear by rubbing; to wear by friction.
    • the troubled Tiber chafing with her shores1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  5. (intransitive) To be worn by rubbing.
    • A cable chafes.
  6. (figuratively, intransitive) To have a feeling of vexation; to be vexed; to fret; to be irritated.
    • He will chafe at the doctor's marrying my daughter.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

See all 9 meanings of chafe

Noun

chafing (plural chafings)

  1. The act by which something is chafed.
    • The constant and irresistible pressure of such a ponderous mass in motion must occasion certain rubbings and chafings against the rugged bottoms and projecting sides of the rocks amid which they move.1853, The Popular Educator: Volume 3, page 325

Forms of chafing

pluralchafings

Words formed from chafing

Phrases with chafing

Questions about chafing

What does chafing mean?
Chafing means the act by which something is chafed.
What is chafing the present participle and gerund of?
Chafing is the present participle and gerund of chafe.
What part of speech is chafing?
Chafing is a noun.
How do you pronounce chafing?
Chafing is pronounced /ˈtʃeɪfɪŋ/.
What is the plural of chafing?
The plural of chafing is chafings.

Words near chafing in the dictionary

  1. chaffwaxes
  2. chaffweed
  3. chaffweeds
  4. chaffy
  5. Chafin
  6. chafing
  7. chafing at the bit
  8. chafing dish
  9. chafing dishes
  10. chafing gear
  11. chafing-dish

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: chafing (page history and authors); chafe (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-chafing.wav.

Cite this entry: “chafing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chafing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.