foodstuff

American

[food-stuhf] / ˈfudˌstʌf /

noun

a substance used or capable of being used as nutriment.

foodstuff British

/ ˈfuːdˌstʌf /

noun

any material, substance, etc, that can be used as food

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of foodstuff

First recorded in 1870–75; food + stuff

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“Just like rice—basic foodstuff that you would fix at the end of the world,” he said, adding that he hasn’t had issues with management.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026

So, as a former MP raises the subject again, what's in a name and what could the future hold for this fought-over foodstuff?

From BBC • Jun. 1, 2025

Before becoming the symbol of Halloween, pumpkins had a very long history as a foodstuff.

From Salon • Oct. 28, 2024

And versions of this protest tool, throwing a foodstuff at somebody, have been around a long time.

From Slate • Jun. 5, 2024

When the Haudenosaunee hunted these animals, the historian William Cronon observed, they were harvesting a foodstuff which they had consciously been instrumental in creating.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023