MEANING
1. To make a surface sore or worn through repeated rubbing.
2. To feel irritated or restricted by something.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- chafe the skin
On the page
The strap chafed his skin.
The stiff collar chafed her neck.
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- chafe
- Past tense
- chafed
- Past participle
- chafed
- Present participle
- chafing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- chafe
- Present continuous
- am/is/are chafing
- Present perfect
- have/has chafed
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been chafing
- Past
- chafed
- Past continuous
- was/were chafing
- Past perfect
- had chafed
- Past perfect continuous
- had been chafing
- Future
- will chafe
- Future continuous
- will be chafing
- Future perfect
- will have chafed
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been chafing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: chafe; chafes; chafed; chafed; chafing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: chafes.
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