stuff
Americannoun
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stuff
plural
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the material of which anything is made.
a hard, crystalline stuff.
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material to be worked upon or to be used in making something.
wood, steel, and other stuff for building.
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material of some unspecified kind.
a cushion filled with some soft stuff.
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Chiefly British. woven material or fabric, especially wool.
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property, as personal belongings or equipment; things.
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something to be swallowed, as food, drink, or medicine.
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inward character, qualities, or capabilities.
to have good stuff in one.
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Informal. action or talk of a particular kind.
kid stuff; Cut out the rough stuff.
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worthless things or matter.
to clean the stuff out of a closet.
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worthless or foolish ideas, talk, or writing.
a lot of stuff and nonsense.
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Sports.
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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.
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spin or speed imparted to a ball, as by a baseball pitcher, a bowler, or a tennis player.
a pitch with plenty of stuff.
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Informal. journalistic, literary, artistic, dramatic, musical, or other compositions or performances.
Bach composed some splendid stuff.
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Informal. one's trade, skill, field, facts, etc..
She knows her stuff.
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Slang. any kind of drug, especially an illicit one.
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Also called stock. Papermaking. refined and beaten wet pulp ready for spreading on the wire.
verb (used with object)
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stuffs,
present (3rd person singular)
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stuffed,
past participle, past
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stuffing
present participle
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to fill (a receptacle), especially by packing the contents closely together; cram full.
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to fill (an aperture, cavity, etc.) by forcing something into it.
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to fill or line with some kind of material as a padding or packing.
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to fill or cram (oneself, one's stomach, etc.) with food.
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Cooking. to fill (meat, vegetables, etc.) with seasoned breadcrumbs or other savory matter.
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to fill the preserved skin of (a dead animal) with material, retaining its natural form and appearance for display.
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to put fraudulent votes into (a ballot box).
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to thrust or cram (something) into a receptacle, cavity, or the like.
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to pack tightly in a confined place; crowd together.
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to crowd (a vehicle, room, etc.) with persons.
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to clutter or fill (the mind) with facts, details, etc.
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(in leather manufacturing) to treat (a skin, hide, etc.) with a composition of tallow and other ingredients.
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to stop up or plug; block or choke (usually followed byup ).
verb (used without object)
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stuffs,
present (3rd person singular)
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stuffed,
past participle, past
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stuffing
present participle
verb
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to pack or fill completely; cram
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(intr) to eat large quantities
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to force, shove, or squeeze
to stuff money into a pocket
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to fill (food such as poultry or tomatoes) with a stuffing
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to fill (an animal's skin) with material so as to restore the shape of the live animal
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slang to have sexual intercourse with (a woman)
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tanning to treat (an animal skin or hide) with grease
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to fill (a ballot box) with a large number of fraudulent votes
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(in marine transport) to pack (a container) See also stuffing and stripping
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slang to ruin, frustrate, or defeat
noun
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the raw material or fabric of something
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woollen cloth or fabric
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any general or unspecified substance or accumulation of objects
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stupid or worthless actions, speech, ideas, etc
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subject matter, skill, etc
he knows his stuff
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a slang word for money
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slang a drug, esp cannabis
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slang a girl or woman considered sexually (esp in the phrase bit of stuff )
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informal to do what is expected of one
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that is what is needed
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
Synonym Usage
See matter.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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stuffernoun
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restuffverb (used with object)
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understuffverb (used with object)
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unstuffverb (used with object)
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stufflessadjective
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unstuffedadjective
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well-stuffedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stuffsimple
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stuffssimple
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have stuffedperfect
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has stuffedperfect
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am stuffingprogressive
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are stuffingprogressive
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is stuffingprogressive
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have been stuffingperfect progressive
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has been stuffingperfect progressive
Past
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stuffedsimple
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had stuffedperfect
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was stuffingprogressive
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were stuffingprogressive
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had been stuffingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stuff
First recorded in 1300–50; (verb) late Middle English stuffen “to equip, furnish,” from Old French estoffer literally, “to stuff,” from unattested Frankish stopfōn, stoppōn; (noun) Middle English, from Old French estoffe, derivative of the verb; see stop
Explanation
"Good stuff!" you might say, tasting a delicious piece of cake. The word stuff could refer to all sorts of things. It's one of those words that you can use when you're too lazy to find the right word. Stuff is one of those words you use in all kinds of contexts, or for all kinds of stuff. When you throw a bunch of stuff into a bag, you could be referring to any arrangement of things. When you talk about someone's possessions, informally, you're talking about his stuff. As a verb, to stuff something, is to fill it up — like when you stuff a turkey with breadcrumbs or stuff a pillow with... stuffing.
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.
See Examples For:
There’s a lot of personal stuff in here I haven’t talked about.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
But you watch these episodes, and he’s asking really elemental stuff about humanity.
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2026
"The message is: if you break things, you get given stuff," said Laurent Jacobelli.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
The ancient Romans had the stuff, it seems, but eventually it fell out of use.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
I asked how she lost her gift, and she said it was grown-up stuff and she didn’t want to talk about it.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
The Cowboys didn’t get a green dot in free agency, which remains a major hole, and Rodriguez does it all and stuffs the stat sheet.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2026
Top holdings include Thai Foods Group, which distributes poultry and other food stuffs in Thailand, and Brazilian energy companies Petroreconcavo and Petrobras.
From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026
The desperation caused by precious food stuffs going to waste in warm fridges and freezers was exacerbated by citizens going for days with no air-conditioning or ceiling fans in the island's stifling heat.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2024
Later, he lies down and the man in the rabbit head, from whom he has taken a carrot, blows up black balloons and stuffs them in Smko’s clothing so they look like bulging tumors.
From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 2024
He folds the bread in half and stuffs most of it in his mouth.
From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson
Of course he was, along with the two stuffed squirrels Haaland had also picked up at a Western-themed store in Dallas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Inside a dimly lit room, participants slept with monitors attached to their heads, some cradling stuffed toys in their beds.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
Leaving the crunchy, ragged edges on the paper, we stuffed our notice of intent into an envelope.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
You may have seen those people at the airport - a pillow stuffed under an arm as they drag their suitcases to check-in.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
Ana’s living room is decorated with black-and-white streamers and balloons, penguin stuffed animals, and bowls of black-and-white candy.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
The $99 dish, roasted with herb butter under the skin, comes with crunchy sourdough stuffing infused with foie gras and mashed potatoes whipped with butter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
If you’re baking your stuffing, some combination of stock, egg, cream or buttermilk helps pull everything together.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
“Businesses, particularly those that collect and maintain sensitive personal and genetic data, can and should know to guard against” credential stuffing, the attorney general’s release said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026
Users were targeted by a so-called "credential stuffing" attack in which hackers used passwords exposed in previous breaches to access 23andMe accounts for which people had used similar credentials.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
Grabbing their supplies and stuffing them into Otto’s backpack, they darted to where they’d laid their bikes in the street.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
