Last modified on 3 September 2014, at 03:35



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From Late Middle English stuffen (to equip, furnish), from Old French estoffer ("to provide what is necessary, equip, stuff"; > French étoffer and étouffer), from Frankish *stopfōn, *stoppōn (to cram, plug, stuff), from Proto-Germanic *stuppōną (to clog up, block, fill). Cognate with Old High German stoffōn, stopfōn (to plug, stuff), Old English stoppian (to stop up, close) and Albanian shtyp (to press, squeeze, stuff). More at stop.



stuff (usually uncountable, plural stuffs)

  1. Miscellaneous items; things; (with possessive) personal effects.
    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.
  2. The tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object.
    • Sir John Davies (c.1569-1626)
      The workman on his stuff his skill doth show, / And yet the stuff gives not the man his skill.
  3. A material for making clothing; any woven textile, but especially a woollen fabric.
    • 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial 2007, p. 147:
      She was going out to buy some lengths of good woollen stuff for Louise's winter dresses.
  4. Abstract substance or character.
  5. (informal) Used as placeholder, usually for material of unknown type or name.
    Can I have some of that stuff on my ice-cream sundae?
    • 1935, George Goodchild, chapter 3, Death on the Centre Court:
  6. (slang, informal) Substitution for trivial details.
    I had to do some stuff.
  7. (slang) Narcotic drugs, especially heroin.
    • 1947, William Burroughs, letter, 11 Mar 1947:
      For some idiotic reason the bureaucrats are more opposed to tea than to stuff.
  8. (obsolete, uncountable) Furniture; goods; domestic vessels or utensils.
    • Abraham Hayward (1801-1884)
      He took away locks, and gave away the king's stuff.
  9. (obsolete) A medicine or mixture; a potion.
  10. (obsolete) Refuse or worthless matter; hence, also, foolish or irrational language; nonsense; trash.
    • John Dryden (1631-1700)
      Anger would indite / Such woeful stuff as I or Shadwell write.
  12. Paper stock ground ready for use. When partly ground, it is called half stuff.

Usage notesEdit

  • The textile sense is increasingly specialized and sounds dated in everyday contexts.

Related termsEdit




stuff (third-person singular simple present stuffs, present participle stuffing, simple past and past participle stuffed)

  1. (transitive) To fill by crowding something into; to cram with something; to load to excess.
    She stuffed the turkey for Thanksgiving using her secret stuffing recipe.
    • Dryden
      Lest the gods, for sin, / Should with a swelling dropsy stuff thy skin.
    • 1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
  2. (transitive) To fill a space with (something) in a compressed manner.
    He stuffed his clothes into the closet and shut the door.
    • Francis Bacon
      Put roses into a glass with a narrow mouth, stuffing them close together [] and they retain smell and colour.
  3. (transitive, used in the passive) To sate.
    I’m stuffed after having eaten all that turkey, mashed potatoes and delicious stuffing.
  4. (transitive, UK, Australia, New Zealand) To be broken.
  5. (transitive, vulgar, UK, Australia, New Zealand) To sexually penetrate.
  6. (transitive) To be cut off in a race by having one's projected and committed racing line (trajectory) disturbed by an abrupt manoeuvre by a competitor.
    I got stuffed by that guy on the supermoto going into that turn, almost causing us to crash.
  7. To preserve a dead bird or animal by filling its skin.
  8. (transitive) To obstruct, as any of the organs; to affect with some obstruction in the organs of sense or respiration.
    • Shakespeare
      I'm stuffed, cousin; I cannot smell.
  9. (transitive) To form or fashion by packing with the necessary material.
    • Jonathan Swift
  10. (transitive, dated) 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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