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:
“The more you get to work on stuff like that, and the more that you become the character, the more fun you have.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Bonus: Giving away unwanted stuff directly to neighbors made me feel better than sending it to a landfill.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
“It is really, really hard to trace where the stuff comes from if you go all the way down the supply chain, and it is even harder to monitor that on an ongoing basis.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
"This stuff builds up in the environment, builds up in animals and fish, and it builds up in us," Gowan said.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
“He’s sending us stuff at school to get on her good side.”
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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
In turn, this has meant a shortage of US dollars, making it harder and more costly for the country to import petrol, diesel and food stuffs, leading to shortages and price hikes.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2025
Avilés takes a story about death and stuffs it with life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 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
She takes the green shirt off, rolls it up, and stuffs it into her backpack.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
According to Bernie Moreno, Miller once refused to turn over a favorite stuffed animal of the couple’s daughter during a custody exchange.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
If your safe portfolio allocation is stuffed with long-duration Treasurys, you own a leveraged bet on falling rates.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Certain episodes are overlong and overdone, stuffed with one scabrous exploit after another.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
If you love a fig-and-goat-cheese pizza, this stuffed date variation is a must-try.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
The tall human crouched, plucked a piece of rubbish from the roadside, then stuffed it into a bag.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
But over the years, I’ve found that the only way I wholeheartedly enjoy dates is by stuffing them.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
She describes how Dailey, ever hopeful of being exonerated, stayed fit with the help of an improvised dumbbell made by stuffing a pillowcase with his copious legal paperwork.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
The hackers used a common tactic known as credential stuffing to access the data, which exploits weak and reused passwords.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026
They have shown plenty of fight recently but that might have knocked the stuffing out of them a bit.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2026
Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, all that sort of stuff.
From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle
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.
