From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
stuff
n 1: the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a
physical object; "coal is a hard black material"; "wheat
is the stuff they use to make bread" [syn: material]
2: miscellaneous unspecified objects; "the trunk was full of
stuff" [syn: whatchamacallit, whatsis, sundry,
sundries]
3: informal terms for personal possessions; "did you take all
your clobber?" [syn: clobber]
4: senseless talk; "don't give me that stuff" [syn: {stuff and
nonsense}, hooey, poppycock]
5: unspecified qualities required to do or be something; "the
stuff of heros"; "you don't have the stuff to be a United
States Marine"
6: information in some unspecified form; "it was stuff I had
heard before"; "there's good stuff in that book"
7: a critically important or characteristic component;
"suspense is the very stuff of narrative"
v 1: fill completely; "The child stuffed his pockets with candy"
2: press or force; "Stuff money into an envelope"; "She thrust
the letter into his hand" [syn: thrust, shove,
squeeze]
3: obstruct; "My nose is all stuffed"; "Her arteries are
blocked" [syn: lug, choke up, block] [ant:
unstuff]
4: overeat or eat immodestly; make a pig of oneself; "She
stuffed herself at the dinner"; "The kids binged on
icecream" [syn: gorge, ingurgitate, overindulge,
glut, englut, engorge, overgorge, overeat,
gormandize, gormandise, gourmandize, binge, {pig
out}, satiate, scarf out]
5: treat with grease, fill, and prepare for mounting; "stuff a
bearskin"
6: fill tightly with a material; "stuff a pillow with
feathers"; "The old lady wants to have her dead poodle
stuffed by the taxidermist"
7: fill with a stuffing while cooking; "Have you stuffed the
turkey yet?"
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Stuff \Stuff\, n. [OF. estoffe, F. ['e]toffe; of uncertain
origin, perhaps of Teutonic origin and akin to E. stop, v.t.
Cf. Stuff, v. t.]
1. Material which is to be worked up in any process of
manufacture.
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For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the
work to make it, and too much. --Ex. xxxvi.
7.
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Ambitions should be made of sterner stuff. --Shak.
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The workman on his stuff his skill doth show,
And yet the stuff gives not the man his skill. --Sir
J. Davies.
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2. The fundamental material of which anything is made up;
elemental part; essence.
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Yet do I hold it very stuff o' the conscience
To do no contrived murder. --Shak.
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3. Woven material not made into garments; fabric of any kind;
specifically, any one of various fabrics of wool or
worsted; sometimes, worsted fiber.
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What stuff wilt have a kirtle of? --Shak.
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It [the arras] was of stuff and silk mixed, though,
superior kinds were of silk exclusively. --F. G.
Lee.
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4. Furniture; goods; domestic vessels or utensils.
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He took away locks, and gave away the king's stuff.
--Hayward.
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5. A medicine or mixture; a potion. --Shak.
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6. Refuse or worthless matter; hence, also, foolish or
irrational language; nonsense; trash.
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Anger would indite
Such woeful stuff as I or Shadwell write. --Dryden.
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7. (Naut.) A melted mass of turpentine, tallow, etc., with
which the masts, sides, and bottom of a ship are smeared
for lubrication. --Ham. Nav.
Encyc.
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8. Paper stock ground ready for use.
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Note: When partly ground, called half stuff. --Knight.
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Clear stuff. See under Clear.
Small stuff (Naut.), all kinds of small cordage. --Ham.
Nav. Encyc.
Stuff gown, the distinctive garb of a junior barrister;
hence, a junior barrister himself. See Silk gown, under
Silk.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Stuff \Stuff\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stuffed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Stuffing.] [OE. stoffen; cf. OF. estoffer, F. ['e]toffer,
to put stuff in, to stuff, to line, also, OF. estouffer to
stifle, F. ['e]touffer; both perhaps of Teutonic origin, and
akin to E. stop. Cf. Stop, v. t., Stuff, n.]
1. To fill by crowding something into; to cram with
something; to load to excess; as, to stuff a bedtick.
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Sometimes this crook drew hazel bought adown,
And stuffed her apron wide with nuts so brown.
--Gay.
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Lest the gods, for sin,
Should with a swelling dropsy stuff thy skin.
--Dryden.
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2. To thrust or crowd; to press; to pack.
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Put roses into a glass with a narrow mouth, stuffing
them close together . . . and they retain smell and
color. --Bacon.
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3. To fill by being pressed or packed into.
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With inward arms the dire machine they load,
And iron bowels stuff the dark abode. --Dryden.
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4. (Cookery) To fill with a seasoning composition of bread,
meat, condiments, etc.; as, to stuff a turkey.
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5. To obstruct, as any of the organs; to affect with some
obstruction in the organs of sense or respiration.
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I'm stuffed, cousin; I can not smell. --Shak.
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6. To fill the skin of, for the purpose of preserving as a
specimen; -- said of birds or other animals.
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7. To form or fashion by packing with the necessary material.
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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. --Swift.
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8. To crowd with facts; to cram the mind of; sometimes, to
crowd or fill with false or idle tales or fancies.
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9. To put fraudulent votes into (a ballot box). [U. S.]
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Stuff \Stuff\, v. i.
To feed gluttonously; to cram.
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Taught harmless man to cram and stuff. --Swift.
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