stuff

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   miscellaneous unspecified objects

   the trunk was full of stuff

2. 2
   noun

   unspecified qualities required to do or be something

   the stuff of heros

3. 3
   noun

   a critically important or characteristic component

   suspense is the very stuff of narrative

4. 4
   noun

   senseless talk

   don't give me that stuff

5. 5
   noun

   information in some unspecified form

   it was stuff I had heard before

6. 6
   verb

   fill with a stuffing while cooking

   Have you stuffed the turkey yet?

7. 7
   verb

   fill tightly with a material

   stuff a pillow with feathers

8. 8
   verb

   treat with grease, fill, and prepare for mounting

   stuff a bearskin

Etymology

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.