Literary notes about CHAFE (AI summary)
Writers employ "chafe" with a dual edge, evoking physical irritation and emotional frustration. In many passages, the word describes the literal rubbing of skin against a rough surface—as when boots leave a raw, burning mark on a foot [1] or hands are rubbed to generate warmth [2]. Yet its use extends beyond the tangible; characters are portrayed as chafing under societal bonds or personal limitations, their inner restlessness mirroring the friction of an unyielding existence [3, 4, 5]. Such varied deployment imbues the term with a rich, layered texture that bridges tactile discomfort with broader experiences of constraint and discontent.
- "Go slower," says he; "my boots chafe me, my whole foot is raw."
— from A Russian Proprietor, and Other Stories by Tolstoy, Leo, graf - He held her hands between his, and then began to chafe them to get them warm.
— from Mad Barbara by Warwick Deeping - Each man would need to forget himself and not to chafe under his natural limitations.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - O You who chafe at every fetter's link, A restless spirit, never free:
— from Ecce Homo by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - She must suspect, and guess, and chafe, and bear it all alone.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
