Word
stuff
US/ˈstəf/
UK/stˈʌf/
Definitions
02substance or material
n. the material that something is made of.
n. the fundamental substance or matter that constitutes a physical object.
“This pillow is filled with some kind of soft, recycled stuff.”
“The engineers are testing the physical properties of the stuff used to coat the exterior of the spacecraft.”
03illegal drugs
n. a secret way to talk about illegal drugs, especially heroin.
n. a slang term for illicit narcotics, frequently used within drug-using subcultures to refer to heroin.
“The police believed he was selling the stuff out of his garage.”
“Undercover agents spent months tracking the distribution of the stuff across the city's northern districts.”
Slang
04to fill tightly
v. to push a lot of things into a small space.
v. to pack or cram a container or cavity with a substance or objects until it is full.
“She managed to stuff all her winter clothes into one small suitcase.”
“The courier had to stuff the remaining parcels into the back of the van to ensure every delivery was made before the deadline.”
05to overeat
v. to eat so much food that you feel very full.
v. to consume food to the point of satiety or excess; often used reflexively.
“We stuffed ourselves with pizza and cake at the birthday party.”
“It is easy to stuff yourself at an all-you-can-eat buffet and regret the decision an hour later.”
Informal
Synonyms
06to prepare food
v. to put a mixture of bread, herbs, or meat inside a chicken or vegetable before cooking it.
v. to fill the cavity of an item of food, such as a turkey or a bell pepper, with a seasoned mixture before cooking.
“My grandmother always stuffs the turkey with her secret breadcrumb recipe.”
“The chef demonstrated how to stuff the mushrooms with a delicate blend of garlic, herbs, and goat cheese.”
Synonyms
07taxidermy
v. to fill the skin of a dead animal so it looks real for display.
v. to preserve a deceased animal by filling its skin with material to restore its lifelike appearance for exhibition.
“The museum has a collection of birds that were stuffed over a hundred years ago.”
“The hunter decided to have the deer head stuffed and mounted on the wall of his cabin.”
Synonyms
08to dismiss or reject
v. a rude way to say you do not care about something or you refuse it.
v. an imperative used to express contemptuous dismissal or total rejection of a suggestion or object.
“If they won't give me a pay raise, they can stuff the job.”
“When the landlord demanded another month of rent in advance, the tenant told him he could stuff it and moved out that night.”
British English · Informal · Vulgar
Confusables
Staff refers to the group of people working for an organization, while stuff refers to a collection of physical objects or abstract ideas.
RememberStaff are people; stuff is things.
Etymology
From Middle English stuf, stuffe, borrowed from Medieval 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.
From Middle English stuffen (“to equip, furnish”), borrowed from Old French 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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Idioms
funny stuff — Irregular, often illegal, activities.
hot stuff — An attractive person. (often used as a come-on or pickup line)
made of sterner stuff — strong and determined (especially more so than someone else, to whom one is being compared).
strut one's stuff — To behave or perform in a showy or ostentatious manner, as if to impress others; to show off.
stuff it — An expression of indifference or nonchalance.
stuff one's face — To eat excessively.
stuff the ballot box — To commit fraud in an election by depositing extra or otherwise illegitimate ballots into the container holding the ballots of voters, in an attempt to secure victory for a particular candidate or outcome.
stuff you — Used in place of fuck you.
stuffed like a turkey — Very full from overeating.
stuffed shirt — One who is pompous or self-important, especially one who is either officious or punctilious in a position of authority.
Show all 12
stuffed to the gills — Completely full.
sweat the small stuff — To worry about petty issues or insignificant matters.