1. Cause friction
   "my sweater chafes";
   - rub, fray, fret, scratch
    
2. Tear or wear off the skin or make sore by abrading
   "This leash chafes the dog's neck";
   - excoriate
    
3. Become or make sore by or as if by rubbing
   "The ill-fitting shoes chafed her heels";
   - gall, fret
    
4. Warm by rubbing, as with the hands
   "He chafed his cold hands to warm them up"
    
5. Feel extreme irritation or anger
   "He was chafing at her suggestion that he stay at home while she went on a vacation"
    
6. [archaic] Cause annoyance, especially by persistent minor irritations
   "His constant interruptions chafe the entire team";
   - annoy, rag, get to, bother, get at [informal], irritate, rile, nark [Brit, slang], nettle, gravel [US], vex, devil, tick off [informal], roil [N. Amer]

1. Soreness and warmth caused by friction
   "he had a nasty chafe on his knee"
    
2. [archaic] Anger produced by some annoying irritation
   "The chafe of the ill-fitting collar irritated him all day";
   - annoyance, vexation

Derived forms: chafed, chafes, chafing

Type of: abrade, abrase [rare], adjoin, anger, choler, contact, corrade, displease, experience, feel, ire, irritate, meet, rawness, rub down, rub off, soreness, tenderness, touch, warm

Encyclopedia: Chafe, Paul