Word.ws English Dictionary

stuff

/stʌf/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/stɐf/

stuff noun: miscellaneous items or objects; (with possessive) personal effects.

Noun

stuff (usually uncountable, plural stuffs)

  1. (informal, usually) Miscellaneous items or objects; (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.
    • 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.1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 01
    1. (informal, obsolete, usually) Furniture; goods; domestic vessels or utensils.
      • and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff.1611, Bible, 1 Samuel 25:13, KJV
      • He took away locks, and gave away the king's stuff.1630, John Hayward, The Life and Raigne of King Edward VI
  2. (informal, usually) Unspecified things or matters.
    • I had to do some stuff.
    • Andy Jackson puts it more bluntly: "Just because we are off the naughty step doesn't mean we can stop doing stuff. It's far from 'no more action'.2026 July 8, Paul Clifton, “Brunel does the business”, in RAIL, number 1065, page 31
  3. (usually) The tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object.
    • 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.1697, John Davies, A Poem on the Immortality of the Soul
    1. (archaic, usually) A material for making clothing; any woven textile, but especially a woollen fabric.
      • 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.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 51
      • "And you can buy a dress for your wife off this piece of stuff," said Lisetta, who had always an eye to business.1857, The National Magazine, volumes 10-11, page 350
    2. (archaic, usually) Boards used for building.
    3. (usually) Abstract/figurative substance or character.
      • When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept; / Ambition should be made of sterner stuff1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
      • We are such stuff / As dreams are made onc. 1610, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act 4, scene 1, 156–157
    4. (dated, usually, paper-making) Pulp; paper stock ground ready for use. When partly ground, it is called half stuff.
  4. (informal, usually) Used as placeholder, usually for material of unknown type or name.
    • 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.”1935, George Goodchild, chapter 3, in Death on the Centre Court
    Synonyms:
    doodad, thingamabob, Sorted by number of Google hits, widget, hickey, gizmo, thingy, gimmick, thingie, jigger
  5. (slang, usually) Narcotic drugs, especially heroin.
    • For some idiotic reason the bureaucrats are more opposed to tea than to stuff.1947, William Burroughs, letter, 11 March
    • 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.1975, Mary Sanches, Ben G. Blount, Sociocultural Dimensions of Language Use, page 47
  6. (obsolete, usually) A medicine or mixture; a potion.
    • I[…]did compound for her / A certaine ſtuffe, which being tane, would ceaſe / The preſent powre of life[…].1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
  7. (euphemistic, sometimes, usually) Refuse or worthless matter; hence, also, foolish or irrational language.
    • Don't give me any of that 'what-about' stuff!
    • Anger would indite / Such woeful stuff as I or Shadwell write.1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The First Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […]...
  8. (usually) A melted mass of turpentine, tallow, etc., with which the masts, sides, and bottom of a ship are smeared for lubrication.
    • 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.1785, Pamphlets on British Shipping. 1785-1861, page 36
    • 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...1822, William Annesley, A New System of Naval Architecture, page 31
  9. (dated, slang, usually, criminal argot) Money.

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To fill by packing or crowding something into; to cram with something; to load to excess.
    • I'm going to stuff this pillow with feathers.
    • Lest the gods, for sin, / Should with a swelling dropsy stuff thy skin.1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Fifth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […]...
  2. (transitive) To fill a space with (something) in a compressed manner.
    • 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.1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted...
  3. (transitive) To fill with seasoning.
    • She stuffed the turkey for Thanksgiving using her secret recipe.
  4. (transitive) To load goods into (a container) for transport.
  5. (transitive) To sate.
    • I’m stuffed after having eaten all that turkey, mashed potatoes and delicious stuffing.
  6. (pronominal, usually) To eat, especially in a hearty or greedy manner.
    • She sits on the sofa all day, watching TV and stuffing herself with cream buns.
    • Delaford is a nice place, I can tell you; exactly what I call a nice old-fashioned place, full of comforts and conveniences; quite shut in with great garden walls that are covered with the best fruit-trees in the country; and such a mulberry tree in one corner! Lord! how Charlotte and I did stuff...1811, Jane Austen, chapter 30, in Sense and Sensibility
  7. (Australia, New Zealand, UK, transitive) To break; to destroy.
    • He skidded off the road and totally stuffed his brand new car.
  8. (Australia, New Zealand, UK, transitive, vulgar) To sexually penetrate.
    • His wife came home early and found him on the couch stuffing the maid.
    Synonyms:
    fuck, root, screw
  9. (imperative, mildly, often, transitive, vulgar) Used to contemptuously dismiss or reject something. See also stuff it.
    • 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.'2009, Matthew Hall, The Coroner, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN, page 218
  10. (informal) To heavily defeat or get the better of.
    • Mudchester Rovers were stuffed 7–0 in the semi-final.
    • They totally stuffed us in that business deal.
  11. (transitive) To cut off another competitor in a race by disturbing his projected and committed racing line (trajectory) by an abrupt manoeuvre.
    • I got stuffed by that guy on the supermoto going into that turn, almost causing us to crash.
  12. To preserve a dead bird or other animal by filling its skin.
    • 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...1969, Jerome Bixby, Star Trek episode “Day of the Dove”, Culver City, Calif.: Desilu Studios; distributed by Paramount Television, published 1969
Show 4 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. (transitive) To obstruct, as any of the organs; to affect with some obstruction in the organs of sense or respiration.
    • I'm stuffed, cousin; I cannot smell.1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  2. (transitive) To form or fashion by packing with the necessary material.
    • 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.1724, Jonathan Swift, “Drapier's Letters”, in 5
  3. (dated, transitive) To crowd with facts; to cram the mind of; sometimes, to crowd or fill with false or idle tales or fancies.
  4. (transitive) To compress (a file or files) in the StuffIt format, to be unstuffed later.

stuff meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

stuff in Hindi

stuff
वस्तु vastu

stuff in Tamil

miscellaneous items; things
பொருள் poruḷ
word substituted for material of unknown type or name, placeholder name — see also thingy
இது itu

stuff in Marathi

stuff, collection of things
सामान sāmān

stuff in Urdu

stuff
وستو vastu
More languagesFewer languages
stuff in Bengali
সামান saman
stuff in Telugu
కుక్కు kukku, కూరు kūru
stuff in Malayalam
സാമാനം sāmānaṁ, സാധനം sādhanaṁ, വസ്തു vastu
stuff in Kannada
ಮೂಲಸಾಮಗ್ರಿ, ಮೂಲದ್ರವ್ಯ, ಕಚ್ಚಾಪದಾರ್ಥ, ತಿರುಳು
stuff in Punjabi
تننا tunnṇā, ਵੱਥ vattha
stuff in Sanskrit
रयि rayí
stuff in Malay
barang
stuff in Persian
چیز میز čiz miz, تپاندن tapândan, چپاندن čapândan, čepândan
stuff in Thai
กรอก grɔ̀ɔk
stuff in Vietnamese
đồ, nhét, nhồi
stuff in Myanmar
သိပ် sip

Examples of stuff in a sentence

  • 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, […]1887, Indian Cookery "Local" for Young Housekeepers: Second Edition, page 67:
  • She was going out to buy some lengths of good woollen stuff for Louise's winter dresses.1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial 2007, page 147:
  • 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.2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
  • 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."1874–1876 (date written), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “Fit the Fit the Fourth.⁠ The Hunting.”, in The Hunting of...

All 40 example sentences with stuff

Synonyms of stuff

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of stuff

Forms of stuff

Noun
pluralstuffs
Verb
third-person singular presentstuffs
present participlestuffing
past participlestuffed
paststuffed

Past tense of stuff: stuffed

Plural of stuff: stuffs

Origin of stuff

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.

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.

Words formed from stuff

Phrases with stuff

47 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with stuff

27 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about stuff

What does stuff mean?
Stuff means miscellaneous items or objects; (with possessive) personal effects.
What is stuff in Hindi?
Stuff in Hindi is वस्तु (vastu). See Stuff meaning in Hindi.
How do you use stuff in a sentence?
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, […]
What part of speech is stuff?
Stuff can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce stuff?
Stuff is pronounced /stʌf/ (UK).
What is the plural of stuff?
The plural of stuff is stuffs.

Words near stuff in the dictionary

  1. Stueve
  2. Stueves
  3. stuf
  4. stufa
  5. stufae
  6. stuff
  7. stuff a sock in it
  8. stuff and nonsense
  9. stuff dreams are made of
  10. stuff gown
  11. stuff gowns

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: stuff (page history and authors); वस्तु (Hindi) (page history and authors); सामान (Marathi) (page history and authors); وستو (Urdu) (page history and authors); വസ്തു (Malayalam) (page history and authors); stuff (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); تننا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); रयि (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-stuff.ogg, en-au-stuff.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-stuff.wav.

Cite this entry: “stuff.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/stuff. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.