- 1[intransitive, transitive] if skin chafes, or if something chafes it, it becomes sore because the thing is rubbing against it Her wrists chafed where the rope had been. chafe something The collar was much too tight and chafed her neck.
- 2[intransitive] chafe (at/under something) (formal) to feel annoyed and impatient about something, especially because it limits what you can do Young people often go through a phase of chafing under parental control. He soon chafed at the restrictions of his situation.
- 3[transitive] chafe something (literary) to rub a part of the body in order to make it warm or restore feeling to it Kate pulled the blankets over the girl and chafed her hands.
chafe
verbNAmE//tʃeɪf//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they chafe he / she / it chafes
past simple chafed
-ing form chafing
Check pronunciation: chafe