stuff
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: computing
cooking
engineering
food
lifestyle
mathematics
natural-sciences
nautical
physical-sciences
sciences
transport
Etymology: From Middle English stuf, stuffe, from Anglo-Latin stuffa and its etymon Old French estofe, estoffe, estuf, estuffe, stoffe, from estoffer, estofer (“to provide what is necessary, equip, stuff”), borrowed from Old High German stoffōn, from Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn (“to clog up, block, fill”). More at stop.
Inflected forms:
form: stuffs
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: stuffs
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: stuffing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: stuffed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: stuffed
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: Miscellaneous items or objects; (with possessive) personal effects.
pos: noun
tags: informal
uncountable
usually
examples: What is all that stuff on your bedroom floor?
He didn't want his pockets to bulge so he was walking around with all his stuff in his hands.
The Bat—they called him the Bat.[…]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.
gloss: Miscellaneous items or objects; (with possessive) personal effects.
pos: noun
tags: informal
obsolete
uncountable
usually
examples: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff.
He took away locks, and gave away the king's stuff.
gloss: Unspecified things or matters.
pos: noun
tags: informal
uncountable
usually
examples: I had to do some stuff.
gloss: The tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: Near-synonyms: constituents, ingredients; see also Thesaurus:substance
The workman on his stuff his skill doth show, / And yet the stuff gives not the man his skill.
Pound an onion, warm a spoonful of ghee and throw in the onion, brown it slightly, add your curry stuff, brown this till it smells pleasantly, […]
gloss: The tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
uncountable
usually
examples: Without waiting for a reply, she unbound the veil from her head, and took off the loose black novice's robe, which she had put over a gray stuff dress similar to that worn by Lucy.
"And you can buy a dress for your wife off this piece of stuff," said Lisetta, who had always an eye to business.
She was going out to buy some lengths of good woollen stuff for Louise's winter dresses.
gloss: The tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
uncountable
usually
gloss: The tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept; / Ambition should be made of sterner stuff
We are such stuff / As dreams are made on
gloss: The tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
gloss: Used as placeholder, usually for material of unknown type or name.
pos: noun
tags: informal
uncountable
usually
examples: Can I have some of that stuff on my ice-cream sundae?
It had been his intention to go to Wimbledon, but as he himself said: “Why be blooming well frizzled when you can hear all the results over the wireless.[…]You stand by, Janet, and wake me up if they do any of that running commentary stuff.”
The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices).
gloss: Narcotic drugs, especially heroin.
pos: noun
tags: slang
uncountable
usually
examples: For some idiotic reason the bureaucrats are more opposed to tea than to stuff.
For example, one addict would crack shorts (break and enter cars) and usually obtain just enough stolen goods to buy stuff and get off just before getting sick.
gloss: A medicine or mixture; a potion.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
uncountable
usually
examples: I[…]did compound for her / A certaine ſtuffe, which being tane, would ceaſe / The preſent powre of life[…].
gloss: Refuse or worthless matter; hence, also, foolish or irrational language.
pos: noun
tags: euphemistic
sometimes
uncountable
usually
examples: Don't give me any of that 'what-about' stuff!
Anger would indite / Such woeful stuff as I or Shadwell write.
But the Butcher turned nervous, and dressed himself fine, / With yellow kid gloves and a ruff— / Said he felt it exactly like going to dine, / Which the Bellman declared was all "stuff."
Oh, stuff, Julia! I've given up chasing after will-o'-the-wisps like that.
gloss: A melted mass of turpentine, tallow, etc., with which the masts, sides, and bottom of a ship are smeared for lubrication.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: The master, at my earnest solicitation, examined his vessel, and though he prefers the coal tar, yet he told me, there were shells sticking on, and that a very thin coat of stuff, if any, remained.
On the last transverse planking, after: caulking and paying, he has laid on a coat of stuff, so hard when cold aš to resist a firm touch, and applied plain paper, then took heated band irons (such as women use) , and passed the iron from the centre of the sheet to the extremities, thus heating the stuff to make it adhere, pressing out the air, and laying it all flat and united with the course.
While the ships were placed in ordinary “a thick coat of stuff” was applied to the hulls, and their awnings might be spread or sheds erected to provide some protection from sun and weather.
gloss: Money.
pos: noun
tags: dated
slang
uncountable
usually
gloss: To fill by packing or crowding something into; to cram with something; to load to excess.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: I'm going to stuff this pillow with feathers.
Lest the gods, for sin, / Should with a swelling dropsy stuff thy skin.
gloss: To fill a space with (something) in a compressed manner.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: He stuffed his clothes into the closet and shut the door.
Put them [roses] into a[…] glass, with narrow mouths, stuffing them close together […] and [they] retain[…] smell […][and] colour.
The Rabbit could not claim to be a model of anything, for he didn’t know that real rabbits existed; he thought they were all stuffed with sawdust like himself, and he understood that sawdust was quite out-of-date and should never be mentioned in modern circles.
It's our life you're taking, you're making us poor, you have no right, these slaves are ours, until Marie wanted to fill their mouths with cotton, all the cotton that had ever been picked by their slaves, just stuff it down their mouths until they were as fat and soft as the huge pillows they slept on while their slaves slept on hard boards and straw in filthy rat-infested cabins.
You can't just stuff it in a vault somewhere and cross your fingers.
“I will sort this stuff out and repack it.” “No time! Just stuff it inside baskets and shove them to the back. We can sort through it all later.”
gloss: To fill with seasoning.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: She stuffed the turkey for Thanksgiving using her secret recipe.
gloss: To load goods into (a container) for transport.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To sate.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: I’m stuffed after having eaten all that turkey, mashed potatoes and delicious stuffing.
gloss: To eat, especially in a hearty or greedy manner.
pos: verb
tags: pronominal
usually
examples: She sits on the sofa all day, watching TV and stuffing herself with cream buns.
gloss: To break; to destroy.
pos: verb
tags: Australia
New-Zealand
UK
transitive
examples: He skidded off the road and totally stuffed his brand new car.
gloss: To sexually penetrate.
pos: verb
tags: Australia
New-Zealand
UK
transitive
vulgar
examples: His wife came home early and found him on the couch stuffing the maid.
gloss: Used to contemptuously dismiss or reject something. See also stuff it.
pos: verb
tags: imperative
mildly
often
transitive
vulgar
examples: Stuff your stupid rules, I'll do what I like.
Jenny nodded in sympathy, spotting Ali's new iPod speakers sitting on top of the TV. Simone smiled and coughed. 'He forgot to take them with him. He can stuff it, it was my money.'
'Well,' she said, 'you can take your job and you can stuff it, because...' She stopped dead. 'My God,' she whispered, 'I've been wanting to say that to somebody all my life, and now I actually have. Whee!' She pulled herself together, straightened her back and picked up her handbag. 'Sorry,' she said, 'but I'm through.'
And it rained everyday^([sic]) and the seas were rough everyday and I felt ill everyday and I thought, if this is sailing you can stuff it!
gloss: To heavily defeat or get the better of.
pos: verb
tags: informal
examples: Mudchester Rovers were stuffed 7–0 in the semi-final.
They totally stuffed us in that business deal.
gloss: To cut off another competitor in a race by disturbing his projected and committed racing line (trajectory) by an abrupt manoeuvre.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: I got stuffed by that guy on the supermoto going into that turn, almost causing us to crash.
gloss: To preserve a dead bird or other animal by filling its skin.
pos: verb
examples: KANG: When I take this ship, I'll have Kirk's head stuffed and hung on his cabin wall. // MARA: They will kill us before we can act. // KANG: No, they wish to question us, learn our strength, our plans. They never will. // MARA: We are forty against four hundred. // KLINGON: Four thousand throats may be cut in one night by a running man. // KANG: Patience. Vigilance. They will make a mistake. Capture of the Enterprise will give us knowledge to end this war quickly.
gloss: To obstruct, as any of the organs; to affect with some obstruction in the organs of sense or respiration.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: I'm stuffed, cousin; I cannot smell.
gloss: To form or fashion by packing with the necessary material.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: An Eastern king put a judge to death for an iniquitous sentence, and ordered his hide to be stuffed into a cushion, and placed upon the tribunal.
gloss: To crowd with facts; to cram the mind of; sometimes, to crowd or fill with false or idle tales or fancies.
pos: verb
tags: dated
transitive
gloss: To compress (a file or files) in the StuffIt format, to be unstuffed later.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
Derived words: and stuff
blackstuff
breadstuff
diaperstuff
don't sweat the small stuff
drinkstuff
dyestuff
fanstuff
feeding stuff
feedingstuff
feedstuff
folding stuff
foodstuff
good stuff
greenstuff
joy-to-stuff ratio
kid stuff
ladystuff
made of sterner stuff
plantstuff
right stuff
same old stuff
she-stuff
shipstuff
sob stuff
sourstuff
starstuff
stuff and nonsense
stuffaroni
stuff dreams are made of
stuffie
stuffless
stuff sack
sweetstuff
tanstuff
veinstuff
waterstuff
woolstuff
stuffing
double-stuff
get stuffed
misstuff
overstuff
restuff
stuffable
stuffed
stuffed up
stuffer
stuff one's face
stuff out
stuff the ballot box
stuff up
stuff-up
stuffy
stuff you
Translations:
lang: Afrikaans
word: goed
lang: Afrikaans
word: goeters
lang: Bengali
word: সামান
roman: saman
lang: Bulgarian
word: ве́щи
roman: véšti
lang: Chinese Cantonese
word: 嘢
roman: je⁵
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 東西 /东西
roman: dōngxi
lang: Danish
word: ting
lang: Danish
word: sager
lang: Dutch
word: spul
lang: Dutch
word: goedje
lang: Dutch
word: waar
lang: Dutch
word: stof
lang: Finnish
word: tavara
lang: French
word: truc
lang: Galician
word: cousas
lang: Galician
word: murriada
lang: Galician
word: matarutaxe
lang: Galician
word: zurrumalla
lang: Galician
word: zapicada
lang: Galician
word: trapallada
lang: German
word: Sachen
lang: German
word: Kram
lang: German
word: Zeug
lang: German
word: Ding
lang: German
word: Züüg
lang: Greek
word: πράγματα
roman: prágmata
lang: Hebrew
word: חומר \ חֹמֶר
roman: khómer
lang: Hungarian
word: cucc
lang: Hungarian
word: dolog
lang: Hungarian
word: vacak
lang: Hungarian
word: szar
lang: Irish
word: stuif
lang: Italian
word: cose
lang: Italian
word: roba
lang: Korean
word: 잡것
roman: japgeot
lang: Norwegian
word: ting
lang: Norwegian
word: saker
lang: Polish
word: rzeczy
lang: Polish
word: bambetle
lang: Portuguese
word: coisas
lang: Portuguese
word: negócio
lang: Romanian
word: lucruri
lang: Romanian
word: chestii
lang: Russian
word: добро́
roman: dobró
lang: Russian
word: ве́щи
roman: véšči
lang: Russian
word: штуки
roman: shtúki
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: stuth
lang: Spanish
word: cosas
lang: Spanish
word: bártulos
lang: Spanish
word: trastos
lang: Swedish
word: saker
lang: Tamil
word: பொருள்
roman: poruḷ
lang: Turkish
word: şey
lang: Turkish
word: şeyler
lang: Vietnamese
word: đồ
lang: Zazaki
word: hımın
lang: Afrikaans
word: materie
lang: Afrikaans
word: stof
lang: Bulgarian
word: материя
roman: materija
lang: Bulgarian
word: вещество
roman: veštestvo
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 材料
roman: cáiliào
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 東西 /东西
roman: dōngxi
lang: Danish
word: stof
lang: Danish
word: materiale
lang: German
word: Stoff
lang: Greek
word: ουσία
roman: ousía
lang: Ancient Greek
word: ὕλη
roman: húlē
lang: Hebrew
word: חומר \ חֹמֶר
roman: khómer
lang: Hungarian
word: anyag
lang: Irish
word: mianach
lang: Italian
word: tessuto
lang: Italian
word: stoffa
lang: Japanese
word: 原料
roman: genryō
lang: Japanese
word: 材料
roman: zairyō
lang: Japanese
word: 素材
roman: sozai
lang: Latin
word: māteria
lang: Malay
word: barang
lang: Norwegian
word: stoff
lang: Norwegian
word: materiale
lang: Portuguese
word: material
lang: Russian
word: вещество́
roman: veščestvó
lang: Spanish
word: lo de
lang: Swedish
word: stoff
lang: Swedish
word: material
lang: Swedish
word: stoppning
lang: Turkish
word: hammadde
lang: Danish
word: tingest
lang: French
word: truc
lang: German
word: Kram
lang: Hebrew
word: חומר \ חֹמֶר
roman: khómer
lang: Hungarian
word: dolog
lang: Hungarian
word: valami
lang: Norwegian
word: ting
lang: Norwegian
word: saker
lang: Spanish
word: cosas