stuff

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Things in general, when you do not say exactly what they are.

   The drawer was full of old stuff I had forgotten about.

2. 2
   noun

   Information, ideas, or activities of an unspecified kind.

   He told me some interesting stuff about his trip.

3. 3
   verb

   To fill something tightly with a material.

   She stuffed the pillow with feathers.

4. 4
   verb

   To fill food, such as a chicken, with a mixture before cooking it.

   Have you stuffed the turkey yet?

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Stuff entered Middle English as a shortened form of Old French estoffe, “material” or “furniture,” and originally meant material used to make clothes. The verb comes from the related Old French estoffer, “equip” or “furnish.” The dismissive sense “worthless ideas” appeared in the late 16th century.

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.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary