stuff
the material of which anything is made: a hard, crystalline stuff.
material to be worked upon or to be used in making something: wood, steel, and other stuff for building.
material of some unspecified kind: a cushion filled with some soft stuff.
Chiefly British. woven material or fabric, especially wool.
property, as personal belongings or equipment; things.
something to be swallowed, as food, drink, or medicine.
inward character, qualities, or capabilities: to have good stuff in one.
Informal. action or talk of a particular kind: kid stuff; Cut out the rough stuff.
worthless things or matter: to clean the stuff out of a closet.
worthless or foolish ideas, talk, or writing: a lot of stuff and nonsense.
Sports.
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.
spin or speed imparted to a ball, as by a baseball pitcher, a bowler, or a tennis player: a pitch with plenty of stuff.
Informal. journalistic, literary, artistic, dramatic, musical, or other compositions or performances: Bach composed some splendid stuff.
Informal. one's trade, skill, field, facts, etc.: She knows her stuff.
Slang. any kind of drug, especially an illicit one.
Also called stock. Papermaking. refined and beaten wet pulp ready for spreading on the wire.
to fill (a receptacle), especially by packing the contents closely together; cram full.
to fill (an aperture, cavity, etc.) by forcing something into it.
to fill or line with some kind of material as a padding or packing.
to fill or cram (oneself, one's stomach, etc.) with food.
Cooking. to fill (meat, vegetables, etc.) with seasoned breadcrumbs or other savory matter.
to fill the preserved skin of (a dead animal) with material, retaining its natural form and appearance for display.
to put fraudulent votes into (a ballot box).
to thrust or cram (something) into a receptacle, cavity, or the like.
to pack tightly in a confined place; crowd together.
to crowd (a vehicle, room, etc.) with persons.
to clutter or fill (the mind) with facts, details, etc.
(in leather manufacturing) to treat (a skin, hide, etc.) with a composition of tallow and other ingredients.
to stop up or plug; block or choke (usually followed by up).
to cram oneself with food; eat gluttonously; gorge.
Origin of stuff
1synonym study For stuff
Other words for stuff
Other words from stuff
- stuffless, adjective
- re·stuff, verb (used with object)
- un·der·stuff, verb (used with object)
- un·stuff, verb (used with object)
- un·stuffed, adjective
- well-stuffed, adjective
Words Nearby stuff
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use stuff in a sentence
As we hired new employees, a few did stupid stuff, leading to errors that cost the company money.
What if Your Company Had No Rules? (Bonus Episode) | Maria Konnikova | September 12, 2020 | FreakonomicsThere’s a societal position that these cases are between these two people, and if it’s between a man and a woman, that’s personal stuff that we can’t get involved in.
“People want to believe”: How Love Fraud builds an absorbing docuseries around a romantic con man | Alissa Wilkinson | September 4, 2020 | VoxSo now we get to the cool stuff – reverse-engineering the SERPs to snag those premium organic placements.
How to become a master of featured snippets | Mark Webster | September 3, 2020 | Search Engine WatchThat’s going to create more pressure for the stuff that isn’t political.
‘A healthy rebound’: Programmatic rally continues for publishers | Max Willens | September 3, 2020 | DigidayIt tracks the typical fitness stuff you’d expect like steps and pulse trends.
Amazon’s new fitness tracker listens to your voice to figure out your mood | Stan Horaczek | September 2, 2020 | Popular-Science
The best comparison here for an American audience is, well, Internet stuff.
We did ThunderAnt stuff for ourselves and just put it online, and then it blossomed into something else.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness | Marlow Stern | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTI think all the traveling and all the nationalities put that stuff in my head.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness | Marlow Stern | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTIt was a bit strange for a while here with all the Newsweek stuff.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness | Marlow Stern | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThere were a lot of little pieces, pieces of lead and stuff.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile | Robert Ward | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTI have seen a lot of Bolshevik propaganda and it is not very convincing stuff.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation | H. G. (Herbert George) WellsIt makes out of the savage raw material which is our basal mental stuff, a citizen.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation | H. G. (Herbert George) WellsI've got a writ here, Baptiste, and will be glad to have you tell me where this stuff of yours is so I can go and get it.
The Homesteader | Oscar MicheauxIn his youngest days, when his mother used to regulate his food, she would stuff him full of rice.
Our Little Korean Cousin | H. Lee M. PikeWe're right under their noses, so they won't do anything till the stuff's actually in sight.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
British Dictionary definitions for stuff
/ (stʌf) /
to pack or fill completely; cram
(intr) to eat large quantities
to force, shove, or squeeze: to stuff money into a pocket
to fill (food such as poultry or tomatoes) with a stuffing
to fill (an animal's skin) with material so as to restore the shape of the live animal
slang to have sexual intercourse with (a woman)
tanning to treat (an animal skin or hide) with grease
US and Canadian to fill (a ballot box) with a large number of fraudulent votes
(in marine transport) to pack (a container): See also stuffing and stripping
slang to ruin, frustrate, or defeat
the raw material or fabric of something
woollen cloth or fabric
any general or unspecified substance or accumulation of objects
stupid or worthless actions, speech, ideas, etc
subject matter, skill, etc: he knows his stuff
a slang word for money
slang a drug, esp cannabis
British slang a girl or woman considered sexually (esp in the phrase bit of stuff)
do one's stuff informal to do what is expected of one
that's the stuff that is what is needed
Origin of stuff
1usage For stuff
Derived forms of stuff
- stuffer, noun
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with stuff
In addition to the idioms beginning with stuff
- stuff and nonsense
- stuffed shirt
- stuff it
- stuff one's face
- stuff the ballot box
also see:
- get stuffed
- hot number (stuff)
- kid stuff
- know one's stuff
- strut one's stuff
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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