What is "swarf"

Swarf \Swarf\, v. i. [Cf. Swerve.] To grow languid; to faint. [Scot.] ``To swarf for very hunger.''
--Sir W. Scott.

Swarf \Swarf\, n. [Cf. Swerve.] The grit worn away from grindstones in grinding cutlery wet.

"grit from a grinding tool," 1560s, perhaps ultimately from Old English geswearf "filings," from sweorfan, or from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse svarf "file dust," related to sverfa "to file," from PIE *swerbh- "to turn, wipe off" (see swerve (v.)). Later used of the material cut out to make grooves of gramophone records (1935).

n. 1 the waste chips or shavings from metalworking or a saw cutting wood 2 the grit worn away by use of a grindstone or whetstone, being particles of the material being cut and of the cutting stone itself vb. (context Scotland English) To grow languid; to faint.

Swarf were an electronic band from Brighton, Sussex.

Swarf, also known as chips or by other process-specific names (such as turnings, filings, or shavings), is pieces of metal, wood, or plastic that are the debris or waste resulting from machining, woodworking, or similar subtractive (material-removing) manufacturing processes. Swarf or chips can be small particles (such as the gritty swarf from grinding metal or the sawdust from sawing or sanding wood); long, stringy tendrils (such as the springy chips from turning tough metals, or long shavings from whittling); slag-like waste (such as is produced within pipe during pipefitting work); or stone fragments and dust (as in masonry).

Some of these terms are mass nouns (such as swarf and sawdust) and some of them are count nouns (such as chips, filings, or shavings).

The rest of this article discusses metalworking swarf. Wood swarf is discussed at sawdust.