# stuff

Pronunciation: say "STUF" US/UK /stʌf/, AUS /stɐf/

## Noun

1. Unspecified things, activities, or matters that the speaker does not name precisely. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Things in general, when you do not say exactly what they are.
   - _There's a lot of stuff going on at work right now._
   - _She knows a surprising amount of stuff about old movies._
2. Miscellaneous items or objects; with a possessive, a person's belongings, including personal effects and household goods. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Things in general, or the things a person owns, including things in their home.
   - _The movers carried her stuff into the new apartment in under an hour._
   - _Boxes of stuff from the estate sale filled the back of the truck._
5. A substance or material, especially one whose exact name or type is unknown, unimportant, or left unstated. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A material or substance, especially when you don't know or don't say exactly what it is.
   - _The mechanic sprayed some stuff on the hinge and the squeak stopped._
   - _Gray stuff oozed from the crack in the old pipe._
6. The essential substance or character of a person or thing, considered abstractly.
   - Simple: The qualities inside a person or thing that make it what it is.
   - _Her calm under pressure proved she had the stuff of a real leader._
   - _These rivalries are the stuff of sports legend._
10. Refuse or worthless matter, and by extension foolish or irrational talk.
   - Simple: Worthless things, or silly talk that does not make sense.
   - _The editorial dismissed the rumors as stuff and nonsense._
   - _Workers hauled the rotten stuff from the flooded basement straight to the dump._
13. Narcotic drugs, especially heroin. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A slang word for illegal drugs, especially heroin.
   - _Dealers cut the stuff with powder to stretch their supply._
   - _He swore to his sister that he was off the stuff for good._

## Verb

3. To fill a container or space tightly with something, or to push or cram something into a space, often hastily or to excess.
   - Simple: To fill something very full, or to push something quickly into a small space.
   - _Commuters stuff the train cars well past capacity during rush hour._
   - _She stuffed the envelope with flyers before the afternoon mail pickup._
4. To fill a food item with a seasoned mixture before cooking.
   - Simple: To fill a food with a tasty mix before you cook it.
   - _The chef stuffed the chicken breasts with spinach and feta._
   - _For the holiday, they stuff a whole fish with lemon, garlic, and dill._
7. To form or fashion an object by packing it with the material needed to give it shape.
   - Simple: To make something by filling it with soft material until it has its shape.
   - _The seamstress stuffed the rag doll until its arms held their shape._
   - _Upholsterers stuff cushions with foam or feathers to give them their final form._
8. To preserve a dead animal by filling its skin so it keeps a lifelike form.
   - Simple: To fill the skin of a dead animal so it looks alive again.
   - _A local taxidermist stuffed the owl that was found on the highway._
   - _Victorian collectors would stuff exotic birds for display in glass cases._
9. To eat, or cause someone to eat, heartily or greedily until very full; to satisfy an appetite to excess.
   - Simple: To eat so much food that you feel very full.
   - _We stuffed ourselves on barbecue and could barely move afterward._
   - _Guests tend to stuff themselves at the buffet and skip dinner entirely._
11. Used to dismiss or reject something with contempt, as a deliberately rude refusal.
   - Simple: To say rudely that you reject something completely.
   - _He told the board it could stuff its severance package._
   - _Stuff the schedule. We're taking the day off._
12. To defeat someone soundly, or to get the better of an opponent. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To beat someone badly in a game or contest.
   - _The visitors stuffed the home team in the final, winning by thirty points._
   - _The visiting team has the talent to stuff us five to nothing on Saturday._
14. To break or destroy something, leaving it useless. *(Australia, British, New Zealand)*
   - Simple: To break something so badly it cannot be used.
   - _He stuffed the gearbox by slamming it into reverse at speed._
   - _One bad power surge can stuff every appliance in the house._
15. To obstruct or block an organ, especially the passages of breathing or the senses.
   - Simple: To block a part of the body, like the nose, so air cannot pass.
   - _Her ears felt stuffed after the long flight, and every voice sounded far away._
   - _Every spring, pollen can stuff up his nose so badly that he can hardly taste his food._
16. To load goods into a shipping container or similar unit for transport.
   - Simple: To load boxes or goods into a large container so they can be shipped.
   - _Dockworkers stuffed the forty-foot container in under three hours._
   - _Exporters often stuff containers at their own warehouses before trucking them to the port._
17. To penetrate someone sexually. *(Australia, British, New Zealand)*
   - Simple: To have sex with someone by entering their body.
   - _The lads traded crude stories about who had stuffed whom._
   - _He leered and said he'd love to stuff the new barmaid._

## Verb

18. To crowd someone's mind with facts, or to fill it with false or idle tales. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To fill someone's head with too many facts or with silly stories.
   - _His tutors stuffed him with Latin verbs and the dates of kings._
   - _The old sailor loved to stuff the boy's head with wild tales of sea monsters and buried gold._

## Noun

19. Money, in the slang of the criminal underworld. *(dated)*
   - Simple: An old slang word for money, used among criminals.
20. A medicine or medicinal mixture; a potion. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Medicine, or a mix of medicines, that a sick person takes.
21. Textile fabric used for garments, the term covering any woven cloth but applied especially to woolens. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Woven cloth for making clothes, especially cloth made of wool.
22. Boards used for building; sawn planks of timber. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Wooden boards used for building houses and other things.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To cut off a competitor in a race with an abrupt maneuver that disturbs the racing line they have committed to.
- (verb) To pack one or more files into a compressed StuffIt archive, which can later be unstuffed.
- (noun) Paper stock that has been ground and is ready for use; when only partly ground, it is called half stuff.
- (noun) A melted mixture of turpentine, tallow, and similar ingredients smeared on a ship's masts, sides, and bottom for lubrication.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 5–6, 10, 13, 19–22** — The noun goes back to Middle English stuf, stuffe, borrowed both from Medieval Latin stuffa and from Old French estofe. That French noun was based on the verb estoffer ("to equip, provide what is necessary"), a borrowing of Old High German stoffōn, which in turn came from *stoppōn, a Proto-West Germanic verb meaning "to clog up, block, fill." Stop is related.
**Meanings 3–4, 7–9, 11–12, 14–18** — The verb began as Middle English stuffen ("to equip, furnish"), taken from Old French estoffer ("to equip, provide what is necessary"). The French verb was borrowed from Old High German stoffōn, which came from *stoppōn, a Proto-West Germanic verb meaning "to clog up, block, fill." It is related to stop.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/stuff (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).