the refuse of winnowed corn. It was usually burned ( Exodus 15:7 ; Isaiah 5:24 ; Matthew 3:12 ). This word sometimes, however, means dried grass or hay ( Isaiah 5:24 ; 33:11 ). Chaff is used as a figure of abortive wickedness ( Psalms 1:4 ; Matthew 3:12 ). False doctrines are also called chaff ( Jeremiah 23:28 ), or more correctly rendered "chopped straw." The destruction of the wicked, and their powerlessness, are likened to the carrying away of chaff by the wind ( Isaiah 17:13 ; Hosea 13:3 ; Zephaniah 2:2 ).

These dictionary topics are from
M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition,
published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain, copy freely.