See Also: stuff(1)(dictionary)
stuff(dictionary)
Stuff(medicine)
stuff(2)(dictionary)
stuff 1, noun(dictionary)
stuff 2, verb(dictionary)
Hard Stuff(money)
Stuff - Basketball(gambling)
Small Stuff - Sailing(gambling)
Loose Stuff - Motor Sports(gambling)

stuff(1) (iou)



stuff noun. ME.
[Aphet. from Old French estoffe (mod. etoffe) material, furniture, provision, perh. from estoffer: see STUFF verb1.]
a. Quilted material worn under chain-mail; this material serving in place of armour. Later, defensive armour. poet. ME-M16.
b. A body of soldiers; a garrison; an auxiliary force, reinforcement. LME-L15.
c. Military materiel; an army's stores or supplies; munitions of war. LME-L15.
d. Baggage, luggage (orig. spec. of a soldier or an army). LME-M17.
e. Stock or provision of food. Also, corn or grain as a growing crop or in its harvested state. obsolete exc. Scot. LME.
f. Movable property; household goods or furniture. Freq. in stuff of household. obsolete exc. in HOUSEHOLD stuff. LME.
g. The furnishing proper to a place or thing; accoutrements. LME-L17.
h. A pie-filling; stuffing. LME-L16.
i. Goods for sale; stock-in-trade. obsolete exc. north. M16.
a. Material for making garments; woven cloth of any kind; a particular kind of material; spec. a woollen fabric without a pile or nap. ME.
J. Updike The sumptuous wealth of stuffslong dresses, velvet hangings.
b. The material for the gown worn by a junior counsel; rare. = stuff gown (b) below. L19.
a. Material to work with or on; substance in an unworked state prior to being shaped, spun, etc. Now rare or obsolete. LME.
Donne In all the Potters house, is there..better stuffe then clay?
b. Building materials collectively. Long rare. LME.
a. The matter or substance of a literary work, as distinguished from the form. Now rare. LME.
Marvell Having scarce stuffe enough for a letter.
b. What a person is perceived to be made of; a person's capabilities or inward character. Also, solid qualities of intellect or character; capacity for endurance; the makings of future attainment or excellence. M16.
R. K. Narayan He was of the stuff disciples are made of. L. McMurtry Jake ain't got the stuff to stand up to Call.
c. The substance or matter of which a thing is formed or consists. L16.
R. Rendell What folly all this was, the stuff of nightmares and fantasies.
a. Literary or artistic output or material; literary or artistic compositions collectively. Now rare exc. as passing into sense 8 and (colloq.) journalists' and professional writers' copy. LME.
R. Lassels Some old painting,..pitiful stuff.
b. A person considered as a substance or piece of matter. Chiefly with specifying word. Now rare exc. in hot stuff, bit of stuff below. L16.
c. Matter of thought. rare (Shakes.). Only in E17.
d. A particular field of knowledge or expertise in an activity. Chiefly in know one's stuff s.v. KNOW verb. E20.
a. Matter or a substance of any kind; matter not needing a specific designation, or where no specific designation exists. L15.
F. Moryson Their boots..shine with blacking stuffe.
b. An article of food or drink. Esp. in good stuff, the stuff (colloq.), whisky; the hard stuff (colloq.), strong alcohol. L16.
D. Profumo Campbell was..a devil for the hard stuff.
c. Medicine, esp. in liquid form. Also doctor's stuff (see DOCTOR noun). Now colloq. or derog. E17.
d. Garden or farm produce. L17.
e. spec. A particular commercial or industrial commodity produced or dealt in. E18.
Economist Imported coal is unlikely to be as dear as British Coal's stuff.
f. Drugs, narcotics. Freq. in on the stuff, addicted to drugs, on drugs. slang (orig. US). E20.
g. Any collection of things or belongings which one is unable or unwilling to particularize. Also, business. colloq. E20.
M. Keane A lot for Maman to do.., hours of grown up stuff. I. Murdoch I've had our stuff packed up..ready to leave.
Any of various kinds of material whose use is specific to certain trades or industries; spec. (a) Carpentry timber (freq. with specifying word); (b) Paper-making paper pulp; (c) Mining ore-bearing material; rock, earth, etc. containing metal or precious stones. M16.
Worthless ideas, writing, etc.; nonsense, rubbish; valueless matter, trash. Also as interjection expr. derision and in stuff and nonsense below. L16.
Coleridge Your art diplomatic is stuff:no..great man would negociate..upon any such shallow principles.
Money, cash (usu. with the). Also, stolen goods. slang. L18.
In various sports, the spin or work given to a ball in order to make it vary its course; the type of control which effects this. N. Amer. E20.
Phrases: and stuff colloq. and other such useless or uninteresting matters. be made of sterner stuff: see STERN adjective. bit of stuff: see BIT noun2 6. doctor's stuff: see DOCTOR noun. do one's stuff colloq. do what is required or expected of one; perform one's role. good stuff: see sense 6b above. hot stuff: see HOT adjective. in stuff as regards the matter or substance. kitchen stuff: see KITCHEN noun, adjective, & verb. know one's stuff: see KNOW verb. not give a stuff Austral. & NZ (chiefly slang) not care the slightest amount. on the stuff: see sense 6f above. rough stuff: see ROUGH adjective. split stuff: see SPLIT adjective. strut one's stuff: see STRUT verb1. stuff and nonsense rubbish; don't be ridiculous. stuff of household: see sense 1f above. that's the stuff, that's the stuff to give them, that's the stuff to give the troops colloq. that is what is particularly appropriate to the situation, that is what is required. the hard stuff: see sense 6b above. tough stuff: see TOUGH adjective. white stuff: see WHITE adjective.
Attrib. & comb.: In the senses 'made of stuff or woollen cloth', as stuff coat, stuff frock, stuff shawl, etc., 'of or pertaining to the manufacture or sale of stuff or woollen cloth', as stuff-manufacturer, stuff-seller, stuff trade, etc. Special combs., as stuff gown (a) a gown worn by a junior counsel who has not taken silk; (b) a junior counsel; stuffover adjective & noun (a) adjective (of a chair etc.) upholstered by having the material drawn over the frame of a fixed seat and secured beneath; (b) noun a stuffover seat.
stuffless adjective (rare) lacking in stuff or substance; insubstantial: L19.