roughage
nounUS, UK /ˈɹʌfɪd͡ʒ/
Etymology From rough (“not smooth; crude, unrefined”) + -age (suffix forming nouns with the sense of appurtenance or collection).
1
Originally (archaic), garbage, rubbish, or waste; later (agriculture) the portions of a crop which are discarded, such as husks, stalks, etc.; also, agricultural waste such as weeds.
2
Agriculture, Business, Lifestyle Coarse or rough plant material such as hay and silage used as animal fodder.
3
Substances, generally of plant origin, consisting mostly of complex carbohydrates which are undigested when eaten by humans, and which therefore help the passage of food and waste through the alimentary tract; dietary fibre.
- I keep telling her not to eat all that roughage for brekky; prunes, bran, and baked beans.1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 188:
- Derived terms
- nonroughage