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stuff

[stuhf]
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noun
  1. the material of which anything is made: a hard, crystalline stuff.
  2. material to be worked upon or to be used in making something: wood, steel, and other stuff for building.
  3. material of some unspecified kind: a cushion filled with some soft stuff.
  4. Chiefly British. woven material or fabric, especially wool.
  5. property, as personal belongings or equipment; things.
  6. something to be swallowed, as food, drink, or medicine.
  7. inward character, qualities, or capabilities: to have good stuff in one.
  8. Informal. action or talk of a particular kind: kid stuff; Cut out the rough stuff.
  9. worthless things or matter: to clean the stuff out of a closet.
  10. worthless or foolish ideas, talk, or writing: a lot of stuff and nonsense.
  11. Sports.
    1. Baseball.the assortment of pitches that a pitcher uses in a game together with the ability to deliver them in the proper manner at the right speed to the desired spot: He saved his best stuff for the tougher hitters in the lineup.
    2. spin or speed imparted to a ball, as by a baseball pitcher, a bowler, or a tennis player: a pitch with plenty of stuff.
  12. Informal. journalistic, literary, artistic, dramatic, musical, or other compositions or performances: Bach composed some splendid stuff.
  13. Informal. one's trade, skill, field, facts, etc.: She knows her stuff.
  14. Slang. any kind of drug, especially an illicit one.
  15. Also called stock. Papermaking. refined and beaten wet pulp ready for spreading on the wire.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to fill (a receptacle), especially by packing the contents closely together; cram full.
  2. to fill (an aperture, cavity, etc.) by forcing something into it.
  3. to fill or line with some kind of material as a padding or packing.
  4. to fill or cram (oneself, one's stomach, etc.) with food.
  5. to fill (meat, vegetables, etc.) with seasoned bread crumbs or other savory matter.
  6. to fill the preserved skin of (a dead animal) with material, retaining its natural form and appearance for display.
  7. to put fraudulent votes into (a ballot box).
  8. to thrust or cram (something) into a receptacle, cavity, or the like.
  9. to pack tightly in a confined place; crowd together.
  10. to crowd (a vehicle, room, etc.) with persons.
  11. to clutter or fill (the mind) with facts, details, etc.
  12. (in leather manufacturing) to treat (a skin, hide, etc.) with a composition of tallow and other ingredients.
  13. to stop up or plug; block or choke (usually followed by up).
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verb (used without object)
  1. to cram oneself with food; eat gluttonously; gorge.
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Origin of stuff

1300–50; (v.) late Middle English stuffen to equip, furnish < Old French estoffer literally, to stuff < Frankish *stopfōn, *stoppōn (see stop); (noun) Middle English < Old French estoffe, derivative of the v.
Related formsstuff·less, adjectivere·stuff, verb (used with object)un·der·stuff, verb (used with object)un·stuff, verb (used with object)un·stuffed, adjectivewell-stuffed, adjective

Synonym study

1–3. See matter.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for stuff

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • I don't think much of his stuff, but they say he makes heaps of money.

    Ballads of a Bohemian

    Robert W. Service

  • You can peel the stuff out of your pockets with one hand, I figure.

  • But he said to himself "there was stuff in her: what a woman might be made of her!"

    Weighed and Wanting

    George MacDonald

  • Add the seasonings, mix thoroughly, and stuff into the bird.

    Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 3

    Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

  • These landscape fellows buy their stuff direct, and the middleman's out.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

British Dictionary definitions for stuff

stuff

verb (mainly tr)
  1. to pack or fill completely; cram
  2. (intr) to eat large quantities
  3. to force, shove, or squeezeto stuff money into a pocket
  4. to fill (food such as poultry or tomatoes) with a stuffing
  5. to fill (an animal's skin) with material so as to restore the shape of the live animal
  6. slang to have sexual intercourse with (a woman)
  7. tanning to treat (an animal skin or hide) with grease
  8. US and Canadian to fill (a ballot box) with a large number of fraudulent votes
  9. (in marine transport) to pack (a container)See also stuffing and stripping
  10. slang to ruin, frustrate, or defeat
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noun
  1. the raw material or fabric of something
  2. woollen cloth or fabric
  3. any general or unspecified substance or accumulation of objects
  4. stupid or worthless actions, speech, ideas, etc
  5. subject matter, skill, etche knows his stuff
  6. a slang word for money
  7. slang a drug, esp cannabis
  8. British slang a girl or woman considered sexually (esp in the phrase bit of stuff)
  9. do one's stuff informal to do what is expected of one
  10. that's the stuff that is what is needed
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Derived Formsstuffer, noun

Word Origin

C14: from Old French estoffe, from estoffer to furnish, provide, of Germanic origin; related to Middle High German stopfen to cram full

usage

Sense 6 of this word was formerly considered to be taboo, and it was labelled as such in previous editions of Collins English Dictionary . However, it has now become acceptable in speech, although some older or more conservative people may object to its use
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

Word Origin and History for stuff

n.

early 14c., "quilted material worn under chain mail," from Old French estoffe "quilted material, furniture, provisions" (Modern French étoffe), from estoffer "to equip or stock," which according to French sources is from Old High German stopfon "to plug, stuff," or from a related Frankish word (see stop), but OED has "strong objections" to this. Sense extended to material for working with in various trades (c.1400), then (1570s) "matter of an unspecified kind." Meaning "narcotic, dope, drug" is attested from 1929. To know (one's) stuff "have a grasp on a subject" is recorded from 1927.

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v.

mid-15c., "to cram full," from stuff (n.); earlier "to furnish a fort or army with men and stores" (c.1300). The ballot-box sense is attested from 1854, American English; in expressions of contempt and suggestive of bodily orifices, it dates from 1952. Stuffing "seasoned mixture used to stuff fowls before cooking" is from 1530s. Stuffed in reference to garments, "padded with stuffing" is from mid-15c.; hence stuffed shirt "pompous, ineffectual person" (1913).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with stuff

stuff

In addition to the idioms beginning with stuff

also see:

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.