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stuff

Pronunciation: /stʌf/

The English word “stuff” has 20 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. Miscellaneous items or objects; (with possessive) personal effects.
  2. Furniture; goods; domestic vessels or utensils.
  3. Unspecified things or matters.
  4. The tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object.
  5. A material for making clothing; any woven textile, but especially a woollen fabric.
  6. Boards used for building.
  7. Abstract/figurative substance or character.
  8. Pulp; paper stock ground ready for use. When partly ground, it is called half stuff.
  9. Used as placeholder, usually for material of unknown type or name.
  10. Narcotic drugs, especially heroin.
  11. A medicine or mixture; a potion.
  12. Refuse or worthless matter; hence, also, foolish or irrational language.
  13. A melted mass of turpentine, tallow, etc., with which the masts, sides, and bottom of a ship are smeared for lubrication.
  14. Money.

verb

  1. To fill by packing or crowding something into; to cram with something; to load to excess.
  2. To fill a space with (something) in a compressed manner.
  3. To fill with seasoning.
  4. To load goods into (a container) for transport.
  5. To sate.
  6. To eat, especially in a hearty or greedy manner.

Etymology

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.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.