stuffn.¹

Brit.

/stʌf/, U.S.

/stəf/

Forms: Middle English stof, Middle English–1500s stoffe, Middle English–1600s stuffe, Middle English–1500s stuf, Middle English–1700s stufe, (1500s stoufe), Middle English– stuff.

Etymology: Middle English stoffe, stof, < Old French estoffe (feminine), material, furniture, provision (modern French étoffe material, stuff, especially textile material) = Provençal estofa, Spanish estofa, Portuguese estofa, cloth, quality, Italian stoffa piece of rich textile fabric. From the Old French word are medieval Latin estoffa, stoffa, Dutch stoffe, stof (feminine), German stoff (masculine), matter, stuff, whence Swedish stoff, Danish stof neuter The ultimate etymology is obscure. Diez conjectured that the Romance stoffa and the related verb stoffare (stuff v.¹) are derived from the Old High German *stopfôn (Middle High German, modern German stopfen ) to plug with oakum, which (as explained s.v. stop v.) represents a West Germanic adoption of medieval Latin stuppāre to plug, stop up, < stuppa tow, oakum. This is open to strong objections: the likelihood of a specifically High German etymon for a Common Romance word is questionable, and the original sense of the Romance verb appears to be, not ‘to plug or stop up’, but ‘to garnish or store with something’. Whether the noun is the source of the verb, or derived from it, is uncertain; the masculine form in Italian stoffo, Portuguese estofo quilted material, is undoubtedly a verbal noun.

I. Equipment, provisions, stock, and related uses.

1. Equipment, stores, stock.

†a. A body of soldiers; a garrison; an auxiliary force, reinforcement. Also stuff of people. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > group with special function or duty > [noun]

conreyc1330

partyc1330

stalec1350

stuff1412

crew1455

working party1744

draft1756

draught1780

commando1791

detail1862

otriad1916

taskforce1927

stick1953

1412–20 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy iv. 2119 Whanne he sawe his Grekis gonne faille And wexe feble to stonden in bataille For lak of stuf þat shulde hem recounforte.

c1425 Wyntoun Cron. i. 124 Befor it set wes Cherubin, Þat mai be vnderstandin richt A stuf of angellis blith and bricht.

1430–40 J. Lydgate tr. Bochas Fall of Princes (1554) ii. xiv. 53 b Up he rose and gan hymselfe tauance No stuffe about him but sergeauntes riotous.

1442 Roos & Bekynton in B's. Corr. (Rolls) II. 213 Yf any stuf or pouaire of Englissh pouple had be there.

1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) v. 258 That ves a sympill stuff to ta, A land or castell for to vyn!

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vi. l. 693 The ii captans sone mett thaim at Beggair With the haill stuff off Roxburch and Berweike.

†b. In Middle English poetry, the quilted material worn under the mail, or itself serving in place of armour. In later use: Defensive armour. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > body armour > [noun] > stuffed jacket

gambeson1306

pourpointa1325

campesonc1325

acton1328

stuffc1330

haquetona1400

quilta1425

trussing-coat1493

wambais1761

c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace 10031 Vaumbras & rerbras, wyþ coters of stel, Þer-opon an aketon wyþ stof & al sylk [Fr. Hauberc et bon et bel vestu], His cote of armes þer-on.

a1400–50 Wars Alex. 2980* Some arays þaim in rynggez some in rawe brenys, Some in stalwart stuffe & some in stele plates.

c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 581 & syþen þe brawden bryne of bryȝt stel ryngeȝ Vmbe-weued þat wyȝ, vpon wlonk stuffe.

c1420 Anturs of Arth. xlv He..Thro the wast of the body wowundet him ille; The squrd styntet for no stuffe, he was so wele stelet.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) iv. l. 667 With Ire him straik on his gorgeat off steill. The trensand blaid to-persyt euirydeill Throu plaitt and stuff, mycht nocht agayn it stand.

1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. cv He..Hakkit throw the hard weid to the hede hynt Throw the stuf with the straik..He hewit attanis.

1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 130 Thir wicht men weildit thair waponis so weill, That euerie straik out-throw thair stuf of steill Thay gart the blude brist out.

†c. The materials, stores, or supplies belonging to an army; munitions of war; more definitely stuffs of war. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military organization > logistics > [noun] > provision or procurement of supplies > supplies

stuffc1440

supply1510

supply1512

bastiment1594

material1815

matériel1819

subsistence stores1819

c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 481/1 Stuffe, or stuffure, staurum.

c1450 Brut ii. 428 He ordeynyd hym a newe retenewe of men of armys and archeris, with alle maner of othir stuffis that bylongid therto.

a1466 W. Gregory Chron. in Hist. Coll. Citizen London (Camden) 161 And he toke alle hyr ordynauns of gonnys and alle hyr vytayle, with alle the othyr stoffe that was at the sege, that is to saye, xiiij gonnys,..and ij C pypys of brede and floure,..and othyr stuffe of pavys and tentys.

1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvii. 176 Wittaill thai fand in gret fusioune, And all that fell till stuff of toune.

a1500 ( Bale's Chron. in R. Flenley Six Town Chron. (1911) 116 Item this yere the duke of Somerset w^t a grete power ordenance and stuff moustred at portesmouth diverse tymes.

a1500 ( Bale's Chron. in R. Flenley Six Town Chron. (1911) 152 W^t greet ordenannce of Gonnes and other stuffs of werre.

†d. The baggage of a soldier or an army; later gen. baggage, luggage. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > aspects of travel > a journey > [noun] > equipment for a journey > baggage

trousseauc1230

harnessc1330

fardel1388

flittinga1400

stuff?a1400

baggagec1430

trussellc1440

carriagec1450

trussagec1500

traffic1538

trussery1548

traffe1566

sumpture1567

truss1587

needment1590

luggage1596

sumptery1620

piece1809

traps1813

roll-up1831

dunnage1834

kit1834

way baggage1836

swag1853

drum1861

swag bag1892

?a1400 Morte Arth. 735 Thus they stowe ine the stuffe of fulle steryne knyghtez.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 277/2 Stuffe caryage, aport, seruage... Stuffe that is in a fardell, fardage.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Sam. xxx. 24 Like as the porcion is of them that wente downe to the battayll, so shal y^e porcion be of them also that abode with the stuffe.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iv. iv. 150 Come to the Centaur, fetch our stuffe from thence.

a1625 J. Fletcher Noble Gentleman ii. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Dd4/1 I see my folly, Packe up my stuffe, I will away this morne.

1653 H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto Voy. & Adventures i. 2 There I found a Carvel of Alfama, that was laden with the horses and stuff [Pg. cavallos e fato] of a Lord.

e. Stock or provision of food. Obsolete exc. Scottish. Cf. 6c.More definitely †stuff of victual. †lent(en) stuff: fish procured as a provision for Lent.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > supply of food or provisions > [noun]

victualsa1375

substancec1384

repasta1393

kitchenc1400

tablec1405

stuff1436

acates1465

acatry1522

victualling1532

provision1555

achates1570

plate1577

avitaile1592

support1599

horn and corn1633

subsistence1640

cribbing1652

purvey1678

commissariat1811

ration1814

commissary1883

the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > seafood > [noun] > fish > fish eaten during lent

lent(en) stuff1436

1436 in Hist. MSS Comm.: Rep. MSS Var. Coll. (1907) IV. 199 in Parl. Papers 1906 (Cd. 3218) LXIV. 1 We..have notable purveyd for the defense and kepynge of hem, as well in sufficiaunce of nombre of men and in stuff of vitaille, artillerie and alle manere abillemens of werre as otherwyse.

c1506 in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) 198 And your Lenten stoufe is to bey, & I wote not what to do.

1535 Sc. Acts James V (1814) II. 347/1 Þat Nane forstallaris be fundin byand vittalis fische flesche or vþer stuff or þe samin be presentit to þe mercat..vnder þe pane of presonyng of þare personis.

1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 52^v Take shipping or ride, Lent stuffe to prouide.

1596 J. Harington New Disc. Aiax Prol. sig. Bvj Lo stuffe for you good store To gnaw, chew, bite and eate.

a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1667 (1955) III. 480 Then was the banqueting Stuff flung about the roome profusely.

1870 J. Nicholson Idylls o' Hame 113 O' Ne'r~day stuffs we're weel laid in, A sonsy cheese, jist like the mune, Wi' crumpy cakes.

f. Provision of corn; in full †stuff of corn; hence corn or grain in any state (see quot. 1825). Obsolete exc. Scottish.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > corn, cereals, or grain > [noun]

corn871

curnsa1400

frumentc1440

stuff1461

victual1473

plough-meat1580

fourment1601

breadstuff1793

white victual1799

cereal1832

corn-chandlery1883

mutt-eye1946

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun]

corn871

grainc1315

frumentc1440

stuff1461

1461–2 Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) 311 Wher they fyndyth any maner of stof of corn grosyt, they to arest and take up all such stof.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) iii. l. 220 Quhen this was doyne to thar dyner thai went Off stuff and wyne.

1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 6 In all kynde of stuffe, and cattell it abundes.

?1635 in D. Dickson Sel. Pract. Writings (1845) (modernized text) 94 He were an evil-skilled husbandman, who should take a whole bing of stuff to be chaff, because there is much chaff in it.

1786 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 158 The Simmer had been cauld an' wat, An' Stuff was unco green.

1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Stuff,... It denotes grain in whatever state; whether as growing, cut down, in the barn, or in the mill.

g. Property, esp. movable property, household goods or utensils; furniture; more definitely stuff of money, stuff of household. Obsolete except in household stuff n. archaic.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > personal or movable property

feec888

goodOE

chateus1297

moblea1325

farec1330

harness1340

gearc1380

plentiesc1384

goods and cattel1418

pelfa1425

testament1424

movables1428

personals1436

stuff1438

cattle1473

cabow1489

chattel1549

chattel personal1552

goods and chattels1576

luggage1624

corporeals1647

effects1657

chose1670

personalities1753

stock1776

plunder1780

personal effects1818

personalty1827

taonga1863

marbles1864

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > [noun] > of a house

attirec1325

harness1340

gearc1380

household1420

stuff1438

household stuff1445

standard?1474

utensil1484

inspreith1488

utensilies1496

household goods1501

insight1522

wardrobe stuff?a1527

housewifery1552

plenishing1561

householdry1570

supellectile1584

household effects1762

sticks of furniture1777

house furnishing1827

houseware1827

ingear1835

supellex1849

household appliance1853

homeware1868

home1887

décor1926

1438 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 111 Item to my wyf, all my stuff beyng at the Fasterne.

1439 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 126 All his other godes and stuffes meveable that he leveth vnto hem.

c1442–55 Dk. Buckingham in Paston Lett. I. 61 In gode faith, brother,..I have but easy stuffe of money withinne me,..so that I may not plese youre seid gode brotherhode.

1464 Inv. in J. H. Parker Some Acct. Domest. Archit. (1859) III. iv. 113 A grete red standerd full of stuff, locked with 2 lockes.

c1490 W. Caxton Rule St. Benet 136 Suche stuff that he hath not yeuen before to folke þat ben poore or other wyse, openly shall he thenne yeue to the monestary.

1501 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 84 I bequethe to Margarett my wyff all my stuff of hous~hold.

1538 Inventories Relig. Houses in Archaeologia (1871) 43 210 Certeyne guddes or stuffe appertaynyng to the seid Monastery remayneth unsolde.

1596 H. Clapham Briefe of Bible i. 65 Joshuah giving in charge that no man take any execrable stuffe of Iericho.

1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy ii. iii. iii. 399 A poore man..eates his meat in wooden spoones, wooden platters, earthen Vessels, and such homely stuffe.

1646 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 193 She shall not..haue the vse of any of the goods, stuffe of houshold, chattells, personall estate, or thinges by me herein given to her.

1656 A. Cowley Davideis iii. 89 in Poems Some lead the groaning waggons, loaded high, With stuff, on top of which the Maidens ly.

†h. The furnishing proper to a place or thing; appurtenances, apparatus. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > supply > [noun] > that which is supplied > that with which anything is equipped > equipment or accoutrements

ornament?c1225

i-wendea1250

atil1297

tacklea1325

apparel1330

conreyc1330

farec1330

tirec1330

apparementc1340

apparelmentc1374

graithc1375

appurtenancec1386

geara1400

warnementa1400

stuff1406

parelling?a1440

farrements1440

stuffurec1440

skippeson1444

harnessa1450

parela1450

implements1454

reparel1466

ordinance1475

habiliments1483

ornation1483

muniments1485

mountures1489

outred1489

accomplement?c1525

trinketc1525

garnishing1530

garniture1532

accoutrementsc1550

furniments1553

tackling1558

instrument1563

ordinara1578

appointment?1578

outreiking1584

appoint1592

dighting1598

outreik1598

apparate?c1600

accomplishment1605

attirail1611

coutrement1621

apparatusa1628

equipage1648

thing1662

equipment1717

paraphernalia1736

tack1777

outfit1787

fittinga1817

fixing1820

set-out1831

rigging1837

fixture1854

parapherna1876

clobber1890

the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [noun] > (a) means > equipment for any action or undertaking

ornament?c1225

i-wendea1250

atil1297

tacklea1325

apparel1330

conreyc1330

farec1330

tirec1330

apparementc1340

apparelmentc1374

graithc1375

appurtenancec1386

geara1400

warnementa1400

stuff1406

parelling?a1440

farrements1440

stuffurec1440

skippeson1444

harnessa1450

parela1450

implements1454

reparel1466

ordinance1475

habiliments1483

ornation1483

muniments1485

outred1489

trinketc1525

garnishing1530

garniture1532

accoutrementsc1550

furniments1553

tackling1558

instrument1563

ordinara1578

appointment?1578

outreiking1584

supellectile1584

appoint1592

dighting1598

outreik1598

materialsa1600

apparate?c1600

attirail1611

coutrement1621

apparatusa1628

outrig1639

equipage1648

thing1662

equipment1717

paraphernalia1736

fixture1767

tack1777

outfit1787

fittinga1817

fixing1820

matériel1821

set-out1831

rigging1837

parapherna1876

clobber1890

1406 T. Hoccleve La Male Regle 349 My thank is qweynt, my purs his stuf hath lore.

1427–9 in W. Greenwell Wills & Inventories Registry Durham (1860) II. 75 And I wyl yat y^e stuffe of alle myn howses of offices as kychyn panetre and buttre..remayne to my son.

?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. iiii A cart made of asshe..and lyke stoffe to it, as it is to a wayne.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 277/2 Stuffe for a bedde, acoustrement de lit.

1538 T. Elyot Dict. Choragium, stuffe, proprely wherwith that place is adorned, where as shall be enterludes or disguysynges.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. iii. 87 Oh mercie God, what masking stuffe is heere? Whats this? a sleeue?

1679–88 in J. Y. Akerman Moneys Secret Services Charles II & James II (1851) (Camden) 160 To Francis Duddell..for sev^ll provisions for church stuff for the chappel at Dublin, 267li. 4s. 10d.

1688 A. Wood Life & Times (1894) III. 285 Common report that lord Delamere, who was about Northampton burning all popish chapel stuffs,..would be at Oxon next day.

†i. Cookery. Materials for filling a pie or for stuffing. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > additive > stuffing > [noun]

stuffc1450

stuffing1538

stoffado1688

c1450 Two Cookery Bks. ii. 76 Make faire rownde cofyns,..fil hem full of the stuffe, and sette hem ayen in the oven.

a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 51 For a pye... Þy stuffe of fressh befe mynse þou schalle..Þen lay þy capon in coffyn fyne.

1533 J. Heywood Mery Play Iohan Iohan sig. A.iii We made a pye..The preest payde for the stuffe and the makyng.

1591 A. W. Bk. Cookrye (rev. ed.) 7 Then mingle all your stuf togither, and put it in your Rabets belly.

1598 tr. G. de Rosselli Epulario I j Take Marchpane stuffe..prepare the paste..then fill it with the stuffe.

j. Stock-in-trade. Obsolete exc. northern.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > merchandise > article(s) to be sold > [noun] > stock

stuff1560

stock1696

stock-in-trade1775

1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxviij^v There is not so lytle a corner any where, that they [sc. merchants] haue not fylled full of theyr stuffe.

1630 Bp. J. Hall Occas. Medit. §xxx Each [street seller] tels what he hath,..and yet (God wot) it is but poore stuffe that they set out, with so much ostentation.

1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial. 506 ‘He's a deal o' stuff on hand, noo’, a very large stock in trade.

II. That of which something is or may be made; material.

a. Material to work with or upon; substance to be wrought, matter of composition.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > [noun]

stuffc1440

materialc1475

material1509

graith1513

subject matter1535

metalc1550

staple1598

tew1616

subjected matter1645

materiable1652

matter1680

ingredient1691

vehicle1837

input1893

c1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 392 Of suche a stufe as esy is to fynde Is best..to bilde.

1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iii. v. 126 They that ben acustomed to make oynements they ought to make hyt proprely of true stuf and of good odoure.

1522 Extracts Burgh Rec. Stirling (1887) 17 And that tha [sc. the candles] be gud and sufficient stoufe.

1524 Extracts Burgh Rec. Stirling (1887) 19 Johen Allan, talyour, was in amerciament for the occupyin of the furruris in furring of ane goune with new stoufe.

1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 347/2 Fistula,..a pipe: a flute, whether it be of reede or other stuffe.

1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie i. iii. 53 Let Phidias haue rude & obstinate stuffe to carue,..his worke will lacke that bewtie which otherwise in fitter matter it might haue had.

a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1959) IV. 51 In all the Potters house, is there one vessell made of better stuffe then clay?

1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Treat. Orange Trees iv. 9 in Compl. Gard'ner A Shovel-full of Stuff [Fr. matière] is thrown from each of the two or three separated Heaps [of ingredients for a compost].

1764 R. Burn Hist. Poor Laws 217 Hemp, wool, flax, or other stuff wrought, shall be sold..either at some market or other place.

b. collective. Materials or requisites for a piece of work; esp. building materials.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > types of material generally > [noun] > building-material

timbera900

stuff1442

stone and mortar1534

bricks and mortar1576

building-material1833

fabric1849

1442 Rolls of Parl. V. 44/1 The makers of the seid new Brigge, to have free entry and issue, with their Tymbre, cariage, and othir stuffe.

1473–4 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 68 For a leueray colare..gevin to him..price of the colare, stuf and werkmanschip, xj li. viij s. iiij d.

1482 Ordinance Syon Libr. in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1910) 25 122 We fyndyng allemaner of stoffe as Bordes, Couerynges, Curreys, hookes, or Claspes, glewe, and flowre for paaste [for binding the books].

1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) vi. 149 Whan all his stuff was redy, he made theym to buylde there a strong castell.

c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 283 Now ordant was althing [sc. for the building of a ship] onestly þere, And abundantly broght þat hom bild might, With all stuff for þe stremes.

c1550 in J. H. Parker Some Acct. Domest. Archit. (1859) III. iii. 79 V^c. marc or more to pay wekely pouer workemen, laborers stuff and cariage.

a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) Pref. to Rdr. A small cotage, poore for the stuffe, and rude for the workemanship.

1630 R. Norton tr. W. Camden Hist. Princesse Elizabeth ii. 106 The Queene by Proclamation prohibited any new dwelling houses to be built,..vpon paine of imprisonment, and losse of the stuffe brought for the building.

1896 P. J. Davies Standard Pract. Plumbing (ed. 4) II. 801 Stuff, in plumbing, the lead and materials, such as is the stuff on the job.

†c. A manufactured material. Cf. sense 5. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > [noun]

stuff1555

fabric1753

1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions i. v. 52 Thei did weare..shoes of a certeine kinde of russhes, named Papyrus, whiche after became stuffe, to geue name to our paper.

a1626 F. Bacon New Atlantis (1658) 38 Wee haue also diuerse Mechanicall Arts, which you haue not; And Stuffes made by them; As Papers, Linnen, Silks, Tissues; dainty Works of Feathers of wonderfull Lustre; excellent Dies, and many others.

3. transferred and figurative.

a. The substance or ‘material’ (whether corporeal or incorporeal) of which a thing is formed or consists, or out of which a thing may be fashioned.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > [noun] > structural material

stuff1587

subject1590

material1624

fabric1849

the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > [noun] > substantiality or subsistence > substance or being

being1340

substance1340

essencea1398

materialitya1529

stuff1587

subject1590

timber1612

primary substance1774

1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. ix. 145 God for the creating of the world needed neither stuffe nor newe aduisement.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1623) i. ii. 2 Yet do I hold it very stuffe o' th' [1622 stuft of] conscience To do no contriu'd Murder.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 156 We are such stuffe As dreames are made on.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. v. 143.

a1625 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Two Noble Kinsmen (1634) iii. i. 47 Not finding in The circuit of my breast, any grosse stuffe To forme me like your blazon.

a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1959) IV. 46 As soone as my soule enters into Heaven, I shall be able to say to the Angels, I am of the same stuffe as you, spirit, and spirit.

1648 Bp. J. Hall Breathings Devout Soul xlviii. 81 When I look back upon the stuffe whereof it [sc. my body] is made, no better then that I tread upon..I have much adoe to hold good terms with so unequal a partner.

1709 T. Robinson Vindic. Mosaick Syst. 14 in Ess. Nat. Hist. Westmorland & Cumberland The Platonick Hypothesis..is to make God an Impotent Cause, not able to make this World with~out Matter and Stuff to work on.

1785 E. Burke Speech Nabob Arcot's Debts in Wks. (1792) II. 502 The debt of the company from the rajah of Tanjore, is just of the same stuff with that of the nabob of Arcot.

1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad xxxii. 47 From far..The stuff of life to knit me Blew hither: here am I.

1900 H. Macpherson Herbert Spencer v. 68 Now, in tracing the Universe, science can get no further back than the nebula, or world-stuff.

1914 A. F. Giles Rom. Civiliz. i. 7 We have to realize that human nature, which is the stuff of history, is much the same in all ages.

b. What a person is ‘made of’; one's capabilities or inward character. Also, solid qualities of intellect or character; capacity for achievement or endurance; the ‘makings’ of future excellence.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > ability > [noun] > for achievement or endurance

stuff1557

stay1586

the mind > mental capacity > disposition or character > [noun] > qualities, stuff

conditionsc1374

allaya1456

mettle?1520

stuff1557

alloy1594

wood1594

intrinsical1655

cast1711

calibre1808

timber1906

1557 R. Edgeworth Serm. very Fruitfull 305 b He is a proud man he swelleth in the flesh and is not ful, but as a thing blowen vp and readie to burst, and yet is there no sure and permanent stuffe within him.

1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 120 He is a proper man, but he is no descanter..there is no stuffe in him.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iii. ii. 93 When that the poore haue cry'de, Cæsar hath wept: Ambition should be made of sterner stuffe .

1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII i. i. 58 Surely Sir, There's in him stuffe, that put's him to these ends.

1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 636 Unapt to learn, and form'd of stubborn stuff, He yet by slow degrees puts off himself.

1792 R. Cumberland Calvary v. 304 Is thy frail memory of that slippery stuff That a friend's sorrow washes out all trace Of a friend's features?

1820 Ld. Byron tr. L. Pulci Morgante Maggiore xxiv For late there have appear'd three giants rough; What nation or what kingdom bore the batch I know not, but they are all of savage stuff.

1822 W. Hazlitt Table-talk II. ix. 212 There is stuff in him, and it is of the right practicable sort.

1853 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel III. x. xxiv. 217 Yet Frank Hazeldean has stuff in him—a good heart, and strict honour.

1858 N. Hawthorne French & Ital. Note-bks. I. 224 He was not naturally of the stuff that martyrs are made of.

1862 Baily's Monthly Mag. May 311 He [an oarsman] looks remarkably well, and is made of stuff to stand training.

1862 Baily's Monthly Mag. Dec. 313 There is some good bowling stuff in him [sc. a cricketer].

1879 Times 14 June 12/1 The Marquis..has some of the stuff of a man in him, in spite of his self-indulgence and his follies.

c. Predicatively, with epithet, of a person or a horse. Esp. in bit of stuff: now chiefly in slang use, with or without epithet, of a woman or girl. Cf. bit n.² 7, Phrases 2a(b)(iv).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > pleasing appearance > [noun] > prettiness > specifically of woman > pretty girl or woman

primerolea1350

jolyvet1413

prim1509

nicebeceturc1520

bit of stuff?1553

nicebice1595

dabchick1612

rosebud1668

doll1778

living doll1785

a bit (also bundle) of muslin1823

a bit (also piece) of all right1895

bit of fluff1903

dolly1906

baby doll1908

cutiea1911

cutie-pie1920

kewpie1946

tchotchke1968

tchotchkeleh1985

the mind > attention and judgement > fashionableness > [noun] > dandy

popa1500

miniona1513

prick-me-daintya1529

puppy?1544

velvet-coat1549

skipjack1554

coxcomb1567

musk cat?1567

physbuttocke1570

Adonis?1571

Adon1590

foretop1597

musk-cod1600

pretty fellow1600

sparkc1600

spangle-baby1602

flash1605

barber-monger1608

cocoloch1610

dapperling1611

fantastica1613

feather-cock1612

trig1612

jack-a-dandy?1617

gimcrack1623

satinist1639

powder puffa1653

fop1676

prig1676

foplinga1681

cockcomb1684

beau garçona1687

shape1688

duke1699

nab1699

smirk1699

beau1700

petty master1706

moppet1707

Tom Astoner1707

dapper1709

petit maître1711

buck1725

toupee1727

toupet1728

toupet-man1748

jemmy1753

jessamy1753

macaroni1764

majoc1770

monkeyrony1773

dandyc1780

elegant1780

muscadin1794

incroyable1797

beauty man1800

bang-up1811

natty1818

ruffian1818

exquisite1819

heavy swell1819

marvellous1819

bit of stuff1828

merveilleux1830

fat1832

squirt1844

dandyling1846

ineffable1859

guinea pig1860

Dundreary swell1862

masher1872

dude1877

mash1879

dudette1883

dand1886

heavy gunner1890

posh1890

nut1904

smoothie1929

fancy-pants1930

saga boy1941

fancy Dan1943

the world > people > person > woman > [noun]

wifeeOE

womaneOE

womanOE

queanOE

brideOE

viragoc1000

to wifeOE

burdc1225

ladyc1225

carlinec1375

stotc1386

marec1387

pigsneyc1390

fellowa1393

piecec1400

femalea1425

goddessa1450

fairc1450

womankindc1450

fellowessa1500

femininea1513

tega1529

sister?1532

minikinc1540

wyec1540

placket1547

pig's eye1553

hen?1555

ware1558

pussy?a1560

jade1560

feme1566

gentlewoman1567

mort1567

pinnacea1568

jug1569

rowen1575

tarleather1575

mumps1576

skirt1578

piga1586

rib?1590

puppy1592

smock1592

maness1594

sloy1596

Madonna1602

moll1604

periwinkle1604

Partlet1607

rib of man1609

womanship?1609

modicum1611

Gypsy1612

petticoata1616

runniona1616

birda1627

lucky1629

she-man1640

her1646

lost rib1647

uptails1671

cow1696

tittup1696

cummer17..

wife1702

she-woman1703

person1704

molly1706

fusby1707

goody1708

riding hood1718

birdie1720

faggot1722

piece of goods1727

woman body1771

she-male1776

biddy1785

bitch1785

covess1789

gin1790

pintail1792

buer1807

femme1814

bibi1816

Judy1819

a bit (also bundle) of muslin1823

wifie1823

craft1829

shickster?1834

heifer1835

mot1837

tit1837

Sitt1838

strap1842

hay-bag1851

bint1855

popsy1855

tart1864

woman's woman1868

to deliver the goods1870

chapess1871

Dona1874

girl1878

ladykind1878

mivvy1881

dudess1883

dudette1883

dudine1883

tid1888

totty1890

tootsy1895

floozy1899

dame1902

jane1906

Tom1906

frail1908

bit of stuff1909

quim1909

babe1911

broad1914

muff1914

manhole1916

number1919

rossie1922

bit1923

man's woman1928

scupper1935

split1935

rye mort1936

totsy1938

leg1939

skinny1941

Richard1950

potato1957

scow1960

wimmin1975

womyn1975

womxn1991

?1553 Respublica (1952) i. iv. 13 Els will some of youe make, good hanging stuff one daie.

1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (at cited word) It is said of one, who will not yield in reasoning, or in fighting, ‘He is good stuff, or, a piece of good stuff’.

1828 Subaltern's Log Bk. II. 164 I entered the house in great spirits, fancying myself, to make use of a slang phrase, a very good bit of stuff.

1830 F. Marryat King's Own I. iv. 54 He is real stuff,—never winced.

1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia I. ii. vii. 133 Rudolf..proved an excellent bit of stuff for a Kaiser.

1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Market Harborough i ‘Capital bit of stuff,’ he repeats, dangling his feet out of the stirrups; ‘as game as a pebble, and as neat as a pink.’

1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vi. 175 He was as good a bit of stuff as ever was put together.

1909 in J. R. Ware Passing Eng. Victorian Era 31/1 He waited for a bit of stuff near the stage door of the Comedy Theatre. He was an elderly cove and he had great patience.

1971 B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 10 The infantry myth that one spent one's whole leave yanking it up some willing bit of stuff in a pub yard.

d. Material for literary elaboration; the matter or substance of a work, as distinguished from the form. Now rare. †in stuff: as regards the matter or substance.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > topic, subject-matter > materials of topic > [noun] > as opposed to form

matter1340

stuffc1450

substancec1475

subject matter1583

the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > topic, subject-matter > materials of topic > [adverb]

in stuff1619

c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Augustine (1910) 60 Þis glorious doctour whom all cristen men ar bounde to do worchip, most specialy clerkys..þat haue grete stuf oute of his bokes to her lernyng.

a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) ii. f. 52^v They busie not them selues with forme of buildyng: They do not declare, this stuffe is thus framed by Demosthenes, and thus and thus by Tullie.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) v. i. 82 And for thy fiction, Why thy Verse swels with stuffe so fine and smooth, That thou art euen Naturall in thine Art.

1619 in S. R. Gardiner Lett. Relations Eng. & Germany (1865) 1st Ser. 192 The inclosed writing..being, as by perusall you will find, in stuffe the very same with that I had at Saltzburg.

1675 A. Marvell Let. 23 Oct. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 166 Hauing scarse stuffe enough for a Letter to the Bench I content my selfe.. with acquainting you [etc.].

1684 Earl of Roscommon Ess. Translated Verse 4 Degrading Prose explains his meaning ill, And shews the Stuff, but not the Workman's skill.

1855 J. L. Motley Rise Dutch Republic II. iii. ix. 458 This great event [sc. the siege of Harlem] constituted..the principal stuff in Netherland history, up to the middle of the year 1573.

e. In phrase that's the stuff (to give them, also to give the troops): expressing complete agreement with or approval of an act, sentiment, etc.

ΚΠ

1896 W. A. White in Emporia (Kansas) Gaz. 15 Aug. That's the stuff! Give the prosperous man the dickens.

1919 Punch 16 Apr. 308/2 That's the stuff to give 'em.

1923 P. G. Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves xi. 116 Really? I say, heartiest congratulations. That's the stuff to give the troops, what?

1929 J. B. Priestley Good Compan. i. iv. 115 ‘I'd like a drop o' tea with some rum in it, good old sergeant-major's.’ ‘That's the stuff, mate,’ said Fred.

4. In various operative trades, applied spec. to the kind of material used in the trade.

a. Carpentry and Joinery: Timber. clear stuff: timber free from imperfections; = free stuff n. at free adj., n., and adv. Compounds 2. quarter stuff: see quarter-stuff n. at quarter n. Compounds 4. thick stuff: see quot. 1711².

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [noun]

treec890

woodc897

timbera1100

mattera1382

stuff1544

lignum1826

1544 P. Betham tr. J. di Porcia Preceptes Warre ii. lv. sig. L iv Bycause stuffe doth somtyme want to make suche [wooden] brydges.

1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. vi. Explan. Terms 113 The Wood that Joyners work upon they call in general Stuff.

1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant 48 Plank and thick Stuff for Ship-work.

1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant 165 Thick-stuff; all Plank (as it may be termed) which is thicker than 4 Inches.

1799 Hull Advertiser 15 June 2/2 Timber. For sale... A variety of stuff suitable for camp buildings.

1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 118 The shoulder [of the square] is pressed against the edge of a rectangular piece of stuff, and a line drawn close to the blade.

1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §83 The whole to be framed in a workmanlike manner, with the stuff (pieces of timber) sawed square of the several scantlings.

1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 130/1 Panel stuff should be treated in a similar manner.

1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 453/2 The timbers are usually of 12-inch stuff square-hewn or sawn.

b. The material of which a beaver-hat is made. Cf. stuff hat n. at Compounds 3.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > treated or processed textiles > [noun] > material for making hats

capade1797

stuff1799

chip straw1806

bat1836

napping1839

1799 Repertory of Arts 10 275 [Hat making.] The purpose of fulling being to form a dense compact stuff with hair.

c. Paper-making. (See quots.)

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > material for making paper > [noun] > pulp

pulp1727

stuff1745

paper pulp1839

wood-pulp1876

ground wood1885

mechanical wood pulp1887

straw pulp1888

soda pulp1893

sulphate pulp1907

1745 D. De Coetlogon Universal Hist. Arts & Sci. II. 796/2 In these Mortars, the Rags being beaten.., they take them out with little Iron hooped Pails... This makes what they call the first Stuff... After this, the Stuff is again put into clean Mortars.

1766 S. Clark Leadbetter's Royal Gauger (ed. 6) ii. xiv. 370 In these Mortars the Rags are beaten into what is called Half-stuff.

1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 208/2 The pulp, or stuff, as it is technically called, is now ready to be made into paper.

1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Stuff, paper-stock, ground ready for use. When half ground it is known as half-stuff.

d. Mining. Material of rock, earth, or clay containing ore, metal, or precious stones.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > minerals > mineral sources > [noun] > material containing ore

gangue1712

stuff1851

1851 S. Rutter Hints to Gold Hunters 12 The principal use of the washpan is in rewashing the partially washed stuff taken from the rocker.

1853 C. R. Read Austral. Gold Fields 15 Anxious, at all events, to have a look at the real stuff, I accompanied one down to see him wash out his tin dish.

1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 19 Fragments of a crimson-colored rock were found by the miners, intermixed with the gold~dust... This ‘red stuff,’ so called, bothered the honest diggers not a little, interfering with their operations much after the manner of the celebrated ‘blue stuff’—the rich sulphurets of silver.

1885 H. R. Haggard King Solomon's Mines xvi I pointed to a series of worn flat slabs of stone..‘if those are not tables once used to wash the “stuff”, I'm a Dutchman.’

1887 J. A. Phillips Elem. Metall. (ed. 2) 185 The [iron] ore remains about ten minutes in the drum, or about 10 tons of stuff are washed per hour.

a. Material for making garments; woven material of any kind.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > woven

webOE

wefta1398

stuff1462

tissue1565

weave1581

contexture1603

textile1626

texturea1656

woof1674

webbing1739

fabric1753

mail net1875

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > woven > collectively

webOE

stuff1462

webstery1588

1462 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 150 Item, delyvaryd to Willyam off Wardrope ffor stoffe ffor my lordys doblett, xx.d.

1473 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 73 Veluous to purfel a govne to my Lady of blac satyne figory, of the Kingis awin stufe.

1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Rv The priest is clothed in chaungeable coloures. Whiche in workemanshyp be excellent, but in stuffe [L. materia] not verye pretious.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. iii. 118 Gris. I gaue him the stuffe. Tail. But how did you desire it should be made?

1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 208 My selfe and my brother bought each of us a long coat of as course stuffe as we could find.

1713 G. Berkeley in Guardian 7 May 2/1 My Couches, Beds, and Window-Curtains are of Irish Stuff.

1801 J. Strutt Glig-gamena Angel-ðeod i. ii. 34 Certain quantities of stuff for the purpose of making ‘stalking coats, and stalking hose’.

1838 G. P. R. James Robber I. i. 12 A coarse sort of stuff used by the common people.

b. In particularized sense: A kind of stuff; a textile fabric.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > [noun]

workeOE

draperya1300

cloth1377

toilec1440

ware1442

stuff1604

drape1665

fabric1753

kain1783

good1831

material1848

1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. xli. 320 The Indians make stuffs of this wooll wherewith they clothe themselves.

1625 in W. Foster Eng. Factories India 1624–9 (1909) 62 ‘Neccanies, semeanes, dimittes, stuffs, gumlack, blood~stones, and the rest’ will be sent as ordered.

a1632 T. Middleton & J. Webster Any Thing for Quiet Life (1662) ii. sig. D But if you'd have a Petticoat for your Lady, here's a stuff.

1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 92 They make stuffes of the bark of a tree, to cover their nakednesse.

1749 T. Nugent Grand Tour II. 222 Leipsic has considerable manufactures of its own, as in stuffs.

1791 W. Hamilton tr. C.-L. Berthollet Elements Art of Dyeing I. Introd. 2 The stuffs..were immersed in vats, where they received various colours.

1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Leila i. iv. 28 The walls were covered with the stuffs of the East.

1857 J. Ruskin Polit. Econ. Art i. 10 Applying your labour rationally;..not..putting fine embroidery on a stuff that will not wear.

figurative.a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. iii. 51 Youths a stuffe will not endure.

c. spec. A woollen fabric (see quot. 1882).

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from wool > [noun]

woollena1300

woola1400

mantling1561

lanifice1626

stuffa1648

woollen-work1866

a1648 [see Compounds 1].

1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 264. ⁋1 He dresses himself according to the Season in Cloth or in Stuff.

1735 W. Pardon Dyche's New Gen. Eng. Dict. Stuff, in Weaving, is any Sort of Commodity made of Woollen Thread, &c. but in a particular Manner those thin light ones that Women make or line their Gowns of or with.

1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 465 Stuffs. This term..may be applied to any woven textile,..but it more especially denotes those of worsted, made of long or ‘combing wool’... Stuffs are distinguished from other woollen cloths by the absence of any nap or pile.

1896 C. K. Paul tr. J.-K. Huysman En Route ii. vii. 276 The Trappist is buried without a coffin, in his robe of stuff.

d. As the material for the gown worn by a junior counsel. Hence rarely, A ‘stuff-gownsman’, i.e. a junior counsel, as distinguished from a ‘silk’ (see silk n. and adj. 3d).For some years c1900 ‘Silk and Stuff’ was the heading of the column devoted to bar news in the Pall Mall Gaz.

ΘΚΠ

society > law > legal profession > lawyer > [noun] > counsellor, barrister, or advocate > junior counsel

devil1818

junior1837

stuff gownsman1852

stuff gown1867

stuff1889

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric for specific purpose > [noun] > for clothing > for clothing for specific people

shepherd's greyc1640

Negro cloth1653

parish blue1830

negro felt1847

nigger cloth1857

stuff1889

1889 A. Birrell Sir F. Lockwood v. 82 In 1882 Lockwood whilst still in stuff defended..with great success, a woman who [etc.].

1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 12 Oct. 6/1 He was appointed to the bench when he was a ‘stuff’ merely on the ground of professional merit.

III. Matter of an unspecified kind.

(a) The general designation for solid, liquid, or (rarely) gaseous matter of any kind: used indefinitely instead of the specific designation, or where no specific designation exists. Often applied to a preparation or composition used for some special purpose.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > existence > materiality > [noun] > matter or corporeal substance

mattera1500

stuff1580

materiary1650

state of matter1665

1580–1 Act 23 Eliz. c. 9 Preamb. A certeyne kinde of Ware or Stuffe called Logwood.

1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 165 They..delight to have their boots and shoos shine with blacking stuffe.

1617 in J. Harland House & Farm Accts. Shuttleworths (1856) I. 223 For stuffe to kille myce at Gawthropp, ij^s.

1681 T. Langford Plain Instr. Fruit-trees xii. 108 Some thin stuff out of a House of Office..hath been often used with good success.

1714 T. Tyldesley Diary (1873) 150 Gave Mrs. 6d. to by stufe ffor her tyeth.

1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Stuff, any composition, or melted mass, used to smear or daub the masts, sides, or bottom of a ship.

1820 P. B. Shelley Œdipus Tyrannus ii. 34 I vote..that Purganax rub a little of that stuff Upon his face.

1882 W. Huggins in 19th Cent. Aug. 275 We have found that one part of the cometary stuff is in the condition of gas.

1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 819 The kidneys gradually finding greater and greater difficulty in getting out the toxic stuff.

(b) Although the English word is not, like German stoff, used for ‘matter’ in the scientific sense (as opposed to ‘spirit’ or to ‘force’ or ‘energy’), it sometimes occurs in nonce-uses intended to illustrate the notion expressed by matter in this application.

ΚΠ

1875 B. Stewart & P. G. Tait Unseen Universe iii. §93. 70 The conviction that there is something besides matter or stuff in the physical universe.

b. Applied to medicine, esp. liquid mixtures. More definitely doctor's stuff (see doctor n. Compounds 3). Now only colloquial or with disparaging implication.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > [noun]

medicine?c1225

pottingary1474

druggery1507

physicary?1577

stuffa1616

materia medica1663

muti1860

a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. vi. 255 I..did compound for her A certaine stuffe, which being tane, would cease The present powre of life.

1636 in Trans. Essex Archæol. Soc. (1863) 2 213 Paid Mr. Stammer for a glasse of stuff sent to the sick folkes, 1s. 0d.

1779 J. Warner in J. H. Jesse G. Selwyn & his Contemp. (1844) IV. 298 Your very kind letter..did me more good, I think, than any of my doctor's stuff.

1819 T. Moore Tom Crib's Memorial to Congress 17 Sandy tipp'd him a dose of that kind, that, when taken, It is n't the stuff, but the patient that's shaken.

1847 C. J. Lever Knight of Gwynne xvii The old doctor..tore a leaf out of his pocket-book to order me some stuff for the cough.

c. Applied to articles of food or drink. good stuff, the stuff (colloquial): whisky.See also kitchen stuff n., sweet-stuff n. at sweet adj. and adv. Compounds 1a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > [noun] > food and drink

(a) bit (later bite) and (a) sup1546

stuff1600

ingesta1741

something1778

the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > whisky > [noun]

usquebaugh1581

creature1638

corn-brandy1704

whisky1715

usque1728

spunkiea1796

skreigh1813

the stuff1828

snake poison1842

tanglefoot1860

whisky-straight1864

oil1869

Auld Kirk1884

snake juice1890

screech1902

scat1914

pinch bottle1916

screecham1923

juice1932

malt1967

1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 ii. iv. 61 Theres a whole marchants venture of Burdeux stuffe in him.

1678 in Jrnl. Friends' Hist. Soc. (1912) IX. 193 Who being gone from the fathers house where ther is Liueing bread enough, his owne Company are glad of his dry huskey stufe.

1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 57 Wretched gripe-gut Stuff.

1712 J. Arbuthnot John Bull Still in Senses vi. 23 My Friend Nic and I, not being used to such heady Stuff [champagne], got bloody Drunk.

1828 T. C. Croker Fairy Legends & Trad. S. Ireland II. 191 Dropping the glass, and it full of the stuff too, I bolted out of the door.

1843 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross I. iv. 62 A farmer and brewer, and making pretty good stuff; ‘Dobbs's Ale’.

1861 G. Meredith Evan Harrington I. xi. 194 The guests had arrived at that stage when to reach the arm, or arrange the person, for a sip of good stuff, causes moral debates.

1886 D. C. Murray Aunt Rachel II. i. 12 Tek a shillin' and get a drop o' good stuff wi' it, an' warm up that old gizzard o' thine.

1895 B. Stoker Watter's Mou' i. 5 Despite of all vigilance, a considerable amount of ‘stuff’ finds its way to the consumers without the formality of the Custom House.

1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad lxii. 92 Ale, man, ale's the stuff to drink For fellows whom it hurts to think.

d. In certain operative trades, applied spec. to some particular composition or preparation used in the work. (a) Plastering. (See quot. 1812¹.) (b) Baking. (See quot. 1820.) (c) Leather Manufacturing (See quot. 1875): = stuffing n. red stuff (see red adj. and n. Compounds 1f(c)). Also touching stuff n. at touching n. Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > substances for food preparation > [noun] > improver or adulterant

doctor1770

stuff1812

improver1835

rough1855

agene1921

society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > plaster > [noun] > other kinds of plaster

lime-slab1608

roughcast1609

lime and hair1626

parge1649

chunam1687

impastation1728

stuff1812

mastic paint1839

parget1842

Parian cement1858

Madras stucco1859

Keene's cement1869

gatch1886

Parian1886

society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > leather > leather-making materials > [noun] > other leather-making materials

sabrasc1480

stuff1812

pure1842

bran-drench1883

moellon1897

sig1897

plumper1903

(a)

1812 P. Nicholson Mech. Exercises 307 Fine Stuff is made of lime slacked and sifted through a fine sieve, and mixed with a due quantity of hair, and sometimes a small quantity of fine sand. Fine stuff is used in common ceilings and walls, set for paper or colour.

1812 P. Nicholson Mech. Exercises 309 Lime and Hair, is a mixture of lime and hair used in first coating and floating. It is otherwise denominated coarse stuff.

(b)1820 Blackwood's Mag. 3 546 Other individuals furnish the baker with alum mixed up with salt, under the obscure denomination of stuff.1843 J. Pereira Treat. Food & Diet 311 Notwithstanding that the law prohibits, under a penalty, the use of alum by bakers, it is very frequently employed under the name of ‘stuff’.(c)1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Stuff (Leather) a composition of fish-oil and tallow for filling the pores of leather. Dubbing.1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather (ed. 2) xv. 216 It must always be remembered that stale goods will not carry the stuff as well as fresh ones.

e. Cultivated produce of a garden or farm; natural produce of land.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > crop or crops > [noun]

wastumc888

tiltha1100

estrea1300

madder-cropc1300

gainage1390

cropa1400

yieldingc1405

emblement1495

burden?1523

increase1535

field-ware1546

gather1555

esplees1598

husbandrya1616

glebe1660

warea1661

récolte1669

tilling1680

tillage1681

stuffa1687

growing1722

bearing1747

raccolta1748

the crops1789

plant1832

raising1857

cropping1861

a1687 W. Petty Polit. Arithm. (1691) vi. 96 The..meliorating, and multiplying several sorts of Fruits, and Garden-Stuff.

1813 T. Rudge Gen. View Agric. Glouc. 246 In some coppices, the small stuff, called drift-wood, is sold..as high as 5s. the square perch.

1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial. ‘There's a vast o' stuff on t' land, surely’; growth or produce.

1896 P. A. Graham Red Scaur iii. 34 His judgment of live-stock was infallible, and he seldom let any real good stuff go past.

1901 J. H. Harris Luck of Wheal Veor xi. 162 The ducks, chickens, and goslings, and all the young stuff shaping ‘keenly’ for future sale.

f. In commercial and industrial use, often applied spec. to the particular commodity dealt in or produced.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > merchandise > [noun]

warec1000

cheapingc1200

chaffer1297

gooda1300

merchandisec1300

harnessc1386

pennyworths1403

haberdashery1419

merchandya1425

mercimonyc1460

merchantyc1485

merchandrise?1495

haberdasha1529

traffic1533

chaffery1535

trade1645

Manchester goods1705

stuff1708

sundries1740

business model1832

Manchester1920

tradables1921

durable1930

1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 2 in T. Nourse Mistery of Husbandry Discover'd (ed. 3) By sight of the Stuff taken out of the Wimble, or Scoop, you plainly discover of what Kind it is.

1881 Good Words 22 843/2 The iron rope..which..brought up the tub..with the ‘stuff’ as it was dug out.

1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 245 Stuff, coals and slack, the produce of the mine.

1912 World 7 May 700/1 Most of the nitrate companies..are making a better showing in their reports. At anything over 7s. 3d. per quintal the stuff pays handsomely.

1913 Standard 14 July 3/1 British steel is affected by the cheap offers of foreign stuff.

g. Narcotics, ‘dope’. on the stuff, addicted to drugs, on drugs. slang (originally U.S.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > drug addiction or craving > [adjective]

addicted1612

narcomaniacal1889

on the stuff1929

junkie1930

on the needle1955

yenny1975

junked out1982

the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun] > a) narcotic drug(s)

opiate?a1425

dope1886

hop1887

Peter1899

quill1916

junk1921

narcotic1926

stuff1929

mojo1935

sugar1935

gear1954

narco1954

sauce1975

opie1992

Scooby Snack1996

1929 Amer. Speech 4 345 Stuff, dope.

1934 Detective Fiction Weekly 21 Apr. 113/2 The addict who shoots stuff into the veins is said to be a gutter, or mainliner.

1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 84/1 On the stuff, addicted to dope.

1952 Sunday Times 3 Feb. 5/4 There has lately been a lot of research into the sale of narcotics (or ‘junk’ or ‘stuff’) and their effects on addicts.

1959 ‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene 292 Jive talk..contains all the fancy-dress devices of private languages..the never-ending substitution of new passwords into the group for new codes..the use of neutral and general words for highly specific things (e.g. on the stuff, or simply on for drug addiction).

1965 New Statesman 20 Aug. 248/3 Addicts have a secret language, which changes like a code. The commonest current name for heroin is ‘stuff’.

1973 L. Hellman Pentimento 290 ‘His room-mate's on the stuff.’ This then new way of saying dope..was no surprise. Years before she had told me her son was on the stuff.

1976 H. Ferguson Confessions Long Distance Acid Head 65 ‘Yes. You were the bloke who got done for someone else's stuff..weren't you?’ It was a junkie whom I had met in Ashford.

7. transferred and figurative in non-physical senses.

a. Literary or artistic matter; compositions, productions. Now rare except with disparaging implication (cf. 8), and colloquial among journalists and professional authors = ‘copy’.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > [noun]

writing1340

scripturea1382

scrowsa1513

stuff1542

the republic of letters1677

belles-lettres1710

literature1711

the Muses1838

lit.1850

letters1916

1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 12 Whiche booke perused, Euripides asked, what he thought of it. By Iuppiter (saied Socrates) that, that I haue been hable to vnderstand me thynketh to be ioyly good stuffe.

1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 70 He pretendeth as thoughe he neuer saw Dioscorides of whom he hath conueyed so much learned stuf in his omnigatherum.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Astrophel & Stella lvi But now that I, alas, doe want her sight, What, dost thou thinke that I can euer take In thy cold stuffe a flegmatike delight?

1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) ii. 124 I saw vpon the wall some old painting,..pittifull stuff.

1693 J. Dryden tr. Persius Satires Prol. 2 To decry the Poetry then in Fashion; and the Impudence of those, who were endeavouring to pass their Stuff upon the World.

1711 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 3 Oct. (1948) II. 375 I..then went in to the musick-meeting..; but was weary in half an hour of their fine stuff, and stole out so privately that every body saw me.

1883 F. M. Crawford Dr. Claudius i He had been reading serious stuff.

1898 Scribner's Mag. May 580 Some of the younger crowd could tell which was Linton's stuff, and what kind of a story he was best at.

1915 Daily News 24 Apr. 4 This does not mean that they had finished writing their ‘stuff’ (to use an expressive technical phrase) for the daily papers.

†b. Matter of thought. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > thought > product of thinking, thought > matter of thought > [noun]

object?a1425

stuff1604

thought-object1838

thinkable1852

thoughtstuff1871

1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet ii. ii. 313 Ham... Man delights not me, nor women neither, though by your smilling, you seeme to say so. Ros. My Lord, there was no such stuffe in my thoughts.

c. Applied to a person: chiefly with qualifying word. See also hot stuff n. and adj.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > person > [noun]

hadc900

lifesmaneOE

maneOE

world-maneOE

ghostOE

wyeOE

lifeOE

son of manOE

wightc1175

soulc1180

earthmanc1225

foodc1225

person?c1225

creaturec1300

bodyc1325

beera1382

poppetc1390

flippera1400

wat1399

corsec1400

mortal?a1425

deadly?c1450

hec1450

personagec1485

wretcha1500

human1509

mundane1509

member1525

worma1556

homo1561

piece of flesh1567

sconce1567

squirrel?1567

fellow creature1572

Adamite1581

bloat herringa1586

earthling1593

mother's child1594

stuff1598

a piece of flesh1600

wagtail1607

bosom1608

fragment1609

boots1623

tick1631

worthy1649

earthlies1651

snap1653

pippin1665

being1666

personal1678

personality1678

sooterkin1680

party1686

worldling1687

human being1694

water-wagtail1694

noddle1705

human subject1712

piece of work1713

somebody1724

terrestrial1726

anybody1733

individual1742

character1773

cuss1775

jig1781

thingy1787

bod1788

curse1790

his nabs1790

article1796

Earthite1814

critter1815

potato1815

personeityc1816

nibs1821

somebody1826

tellurian1828

case1832

tangata1840

prawn1845

nigger1848

nut1856

Snooks1860

mug1865

outfit1867

to deliver the goods1870

hairpin1879

baby1880

possum1894

hot tamale1895

babe1900

jobbie1902

virile1903

cup of tea1908

skin1914

pisser1918

number1919

job1927

apple1928

mush1936

face1944

jong1956

naked ape1965

oke1970

punter1975

1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. iii. 274 King. No Diuel will fright thee then so much as shee. Duma. I neuer knew man holde vile stuffe so deare.

1607 T. Middleton Michaelmas Terme iii. sig. E4 How now? what peece of stuffe comes heere?

a1627 T. Middleton Witch (1945) iv. ii. 1580 She goes here by the name on's Wife: good stuff.

a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) 250 He was so besotted..upon that now broken stuffe, and Crone in yeares, the cast beauty of that woman [Cleopatra].

d. Fighting material. colloquial.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > [noun]

gearc1275

armourc1300

armsc1325

armingc1330

ordnancea1393

armourer?c1400

artilleryc1405

habiliments1422

artry1447

armaturea1460

apparamenta1464

atour1480

munitionc1515

furnishments1559

furniture1569

equipage1579

ammunition?1588

magazine1588

victuals1653

war1667

armament1668

contraband1753

stuff1883

1883 Manch. Examiner 24 Nov. 5/1 The army of Ibrahim included a good deal of tougher stuff than the ordinary fellah of Egypt.

1894 Outing Sept. 445/1 Good! that big stuff can't box a little bit.

e. to do one's stuff: to do what is required or expected of one; to perform one's role. colloquial.Quot. 1663 may belong to another sense.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > do one's duty [verb (intransitive)]

performc1300

fand1488

to do one's do1650

to do one's stuff1663

the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > be occupied or busy (in or at something) [verb (intransitive)] > be involved in or have to do with something > play one's part

to play one's prize1565

to do one's stuff1663

to pull one's weight1878

to stand one's corner1878

1663 G. Fox Jrnl. (1694) I. 266 A while after, when the priest had done his stuff, they came to the friends again.

1922 Radio News (U.S.) IV. 854/1 (caption) Take a look at S. M. Brown, Chief on the Mauretania, ‘doing his stuff’ in the saloon.1930 T. E. Lawrence Lett. (1938) 677 That portable was good at Miranshah. I hope yours is doing its stuff.1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 19 Apr. 29/4 Australia will be represented in this event by Alan Bruce, who has been doing his stuff in London.1946 F. Sargeson That Summer 144 If you knew how to do your stuff you never could tell but what it mightn't end up in a date.1959 Listener 24 Dec. 1108/2 The anti-aircraft did its stuff.1967 G. F. Fiennes I tried to run Railway vi. 70 I go when I can for the fun of hearing Richard doing his stuff.1972 P. G. Wodehouse Pearls, Girls, & Monty Bodkin ii. 27 The Bishop and assistant clergy and the bridesmaids shall be encouraged to line up and do their stuff.1976 Daily Times (Lagos) 27 Aug. 30/2 Ghana's Johnny Francois and a few others did their stuff abroad and, gradually, the panel took root.

f. that's the stuff (to give them or to give the troops): that is what is particularly appropriate to the situation, that is what is required.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > suitable or appropriate [phrase] > exactly

like a tansy1619

bang up1819

that's the stuff (to give them or to give the troops)1923

1923 ‘Bartimeus’ Seaways vii. 98 George Grayson and his Flock of Fascinating Flappers presents a screaming farce: The Giddy Governess! That's the stuff to give the troops!

1927 Daily Express 13 Oct. 12 That, if one may be pardoned the colloquialism, was the stuff to give them.

1942 H. C. Bailey Dead Man's Shoes xiv. 63 ‘A new married man with a lovely wife spends half the night with a police inspector he meets by chance! That's not the stuff to give the troops.’.. ‘No, it don't sound natural.’

1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Sat. vii. 46 ‘We're always glad to have suggestions from anybody.’ ‘That's the stuff,’ said Mr. Ogmore.

1977 P. D. James Death of Expert Witness ii. i. 53 Inspector Blakelock..was always ready for his tea... ‘That's the stuff to give the troops,’ he would invariably say.

g. to know one's stuff : to be experienced or knowledgeable in one's subject, profession, etc. colloquial.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > be versed or skilled [verb (intransitive)]

to have the way (also ways)?1520

to know what something is1535

practise1542

skilla1586

to be one's craftsmaster1594

to know the ropes1802

to know one's way around1861

to know (something) backwards1904

to know one's stuff1927

1927 Amer. Speech 2 277 Know your onions or know your stuff, have grasp of your subjects.

1935 Swing Music June 111/1 The Little Man of the Rhythm Clubs did himself proud in this test paper. He knows his stuff.

1938 G. Greene Brighton Rock iii. i. 108 ‘This doctor,’ she says, ‘he knows his stuff?’

1945 R. A. Knox God & Atom x. 132 All I have written could have been written very much better by someone who, in an expressive modern phrase, knew his stuff.

1952 J. Steinbeck East of Eden xxxiii. 46 It's a lulu. Kate sure knows her stuff.

1967 J. M. Argyle Psychol. Interpersonal Behaviour ix. 166 His [sc. the supervisor's] influence will be accepted more readily if it is believed that he really knows his stuff.

1973 A. Christie Postern of Fate iii. vii. 174 ‘He gave me a lot of knowledge about planting things.’ ‘Yes, he knew his stuff, as you might say.’

8. What is worthless; rubbish. (Originally a contextual use of sense 7, with disparaging epithet or other indication of aversion.)

a. gen.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > worthless

hawc1000

turdc1275

fille1297

dusta1300

lead1303

skitc1330

naught1340

vanityc1340

wrakea1350

rushc1350

dirt1357

fly's wing1377

goose-wing1377

fartc1390

chaff?a1400

nutshella1400

shalec1400

yardc1400

wrack1472

pelfrya1529

trasha1529

dreg1531

trish-trash1542

alchemy1547

beggary?1548

rubbish1548

pelfa1555

chip1556

stark naught1562

paltry?1566

rubbish1566

riff-raff1570

bran1574

baggage1579

nihil1579

trush-trash1582

stubblea1591

tartar1590

garbage1592

bag of winda1599

a cracked or slit groat1600

kitchen stuff1600

tilta1603

nothing?1608

bauble1609

countera1616

a pair of Yorkshire sleeves in a goldsmith's shop1620

buttermilk1630

dross1632

paltrement1641

cattle1643

bagatelle1647

nothingness1652

brimborion1653

stuff1670

flap-dragon1700

mud1706

caput mortuuma1711

snuff1778

twaddle1786

powder-post1790

traffic1828

junk1836

duffer1852

shice1859

punk1869

hogwash1870

cagmag1875

shit1890

tosh1892

tripe1895

dreck1905

schlock1906

cannon fodder1917

shite1928

skunk1929

crut1937

chickenshit1938

crud1943

Mickey Mouse1958

gick1959

garbo1978

turd1978

pants1994

1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) ii. 404 Here also they haue euery night in sommer, a world of Montibancks, ciarlatani, and such stuff.

1707 M. Henry Expos. Five Bks. Moses (Gen. xlv. 20) sig. U3/2 What they had in Canaan he reckon'd but stuff..the best of its [the world's] Enjoyments are but stuff, but lumber.

1720 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1906) VII. 120 Dr. Charlett..went over..to get some MSS. (I am told, very sorry ones) for the Publ. Library... The Persons that told me observ'd that a Library may soon be filled with such stuff.

1810 Sporting Mag. 36 187 A red curtain, a Grecian couch, or some such fashionable stuff.

1883 Daily News 14 Feb. 5/7 The brass dishes are poor stuff.

b. Worthless ideas, discourse, or writing; nonsense, rubbish. Often coupled with nonsense (chiefly stuff and nonsense, †nonsense and stuff). Frequently in interjectional use.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > [noun]

magged talea1387

moonshine1468

trumperyc1485

foolishness1531

trash1542

baggage1545

flim-flam1570

gear1570

rubbisha1576

fiddle-faddle1577

stuff1579

fible-fable1581

balductum1593

pill1608

nonsense1612

skimble-skamble1619

porridge1642

mataeology1656

fiddle-come-faddle1663

apple sauce1672

balderdash1674

flummery1749

slang1762

all my eye1763

diddle-daddle1778

(all) my eye (and) Betty Martin1781

twaddle1782

blancmange1790

fudge1791

twiddle-twaddle1798

bothering1803

fee-faw-fum1811

slip-slop1811

nash-gab1816

flitter-tripe1822

effutiation1823

bladderdash1826

ráiméis1828

fiddlededee1843

pickles1846

rot1846

kelter1847

bosh1850

flummadiddle1850

poppycock1852

Barnum1856

fribble-frabble1859

kibosh1860

skittle1864

cod1866

Collyweston1867

punk1869

slush1869

stupidness1873

bilge-water1878

flapdoodle1878

tommyrot1880

ruck1882

piffle1884

flamdoodle1888

razzmatazz1888

balls1889

pop1890

narrischkeit1892

tosh1892

footle1894

tripe1895

crap1898

bunk1900

junk1906

quatsch1907

bilge1908

B.S.1912

bellywash1913

jazz1913

wash1913

bullshit?1915

kid-stakes1916

hokum1917

bollock1919

bullsh1919

bushwa1920

noise1920

bish-bosh1922

malarkey1923

posh1923

hooey1924

shit1924

heifer dust1927

madam1927

baloney1928

horse feathers1928

phonus-bolonus1929

rhubarb1929

spinach1929

toffeea1930

tomtit1930

hockey1931

phoney baloney1933

moody1934

cockalorum1936

cock1937

mess1937

waffle1937

berley1941

bull dust1943

crud1943

globaloney1943

hubba-hubba1944

pish1944

phooey1946

asswipe1947

chickenshit1947

slag1948

batshit1950

goop1950

slop1952

cack1954

doo-doo1954

cobbler1955

horse shit1955

nyamps1955

pony1956

horse manure1957

waffling1958

bird shit1959

codswallop1959

how's your father1959

dog shit1963

cods1965

shmegegge1968

pucky1970

taradiddle1970

mouthwash1971

wank1974

gobshite1977

mince1985

toss1990

arse1993

the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > nonsense! [interjection]

strawc1412

tilly-vallya1529

flam-flirt1590

fiddlestick1600

fiddle-faddle1671

stuff1701

snuff1725

fudge1766

fiddlededeea1784

rats1816

havers1825

humbug1825

gammon1827

rubbish1839

pickles1846

rot1846

skittle1864

slush1869

flapdoodle1878

quatsch1907

phooey1908

tommyrot1931

balls1938

no shit1939

bollocks1940

phonus-bolonus1955

hockey1961

leave it out!1969

1579 S. Gosson Apol. Schoole of Abuse in Ephemerides Phialo f. 83^v Iuno crieth out in Seneca,..Lets dwel in earth, for heauen is full of whores. What stuffe is this? wantons in heauen?

1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. iii. 161 At this fustie stuffe, The large Achilles..laughes out a lowd applause.

1698 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. IV. 415 Would not this be mere Stuff, wretched Trifling,..and as much to the Purpose as if he had said just Nothing?

1701 G. Farquhar Sir Harry Wildair iv. ii. 33 Golden Pleasures! Golden Fiddlesticks.—What d'ye tell me of your canting Stuff?

1701 G. Farquhar Sir Harry Wildair iv. ii. 33 Stuff! stuff! stuff!—I won't believe a Word on't.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones III. vii. vi. 39 Pooh, all Stuff and Nonsense. I tell thee, she shall ha' thee To-morrow.

1770 S. Foote Lame Lover i. 4 Pshaw! nonsense and stuff.—The eye!

1778 S. Johnson in J. Boswell Life Johnson (1904) II. 185 It is sad stuff, Sir, miserably written, as books in general then were.

1833 S. T. Coleridge Table-talk 28 Aug. Your art diplomatic is stuff:—no truly great man would negociate now upon any such shallow principles.

1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 175/2 It's all stuff and nonsense, all this talk about dust-yards being unhealthy.

1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond I. vi. 121 ‘Stuff! we must see Lady Castlewood,’ says the lawyer pushing by.

1860 C. M. Yonge Hopes & Fears I. 181 ‘Only because I am not come out.’ ‘Stuff about coming out! I don't like my girls to be shy and backward.’

1887 T. E. Brown Lett. (1900) I. 125 Poor G. Sand! I am reading her Amours de l'Âge d'Or. Woe is me! what awful stuff!

1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer xxiv ‘Stuff!’ said Miss Augusta.

†c. Indecent matter. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > moral or spiritual impurity > indecency > [noun] > that which is indecent > indecent matter

unselea1400

stuff1749

filth1872

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xii. v. 226 A grave Matron told the Master [of a puppet-show] she would bring her two Daughters the next Night, as he did not show any Stuff .

d. phr. —— and stuff, and suchlike useless or uninteresting matters. colloquial.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > collect

furnishingsa1616

and stuff?1697

?1697 J. Lewis Mem. Duke of Glocester (1789) 66 She turned to me and said, ‘Lewis, I find you pretend to give the Duke notions of the mathematics, and stuff.’

1729 J. Swift Grand Quest. 159 Your Noveds, and Blutraks, and Omurs and Stuff, By G——, they don't signify this Pinch of Snuff.

1774 O. Goldsmith Retaliation 16 When they talk'd of their Raphaels, Corregios and stuff.

1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond III. iv. 110 And as for you, you want a woman..to sit at your feet, and cry ‘O caro! O bravo!’ whilst you read your Shakspeares, and Miltons, and stuff.

e. gen. Used loosely to denote any collection of things about which one is not able or willing to particularize (a weakened application of senses 6, 7); material, matter, business. colloquial.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > [noun] > state of being non-specific > unspecified thing(s)

no mannera1393

whatever?1808

stuff1922

shit1934

1922 [see sense 7e].

1949 ‘G. Orwell’ Nineteen Eighty-four ii. ii. 123 You thought I was a good Party member. Pure in word and deed. Banners, processions, slogans, games, community hikes—all that stuff.

1967 R. Brautigan Trout Fishing in Amer. (1970) 83 One spring day she had me ascend to the attic and clean up some boxes of stuff and throw out some stuff and put some stuff back into its imaginary proper place.

1977 J. D. MacDonald Condominium xxxvii. 370 Once they left we were going to move his stuff out and change the locks.

f. Hence, with preceding epithet.

ΚΠ

1929 F. D. Brooks Psychol. Adolescence xviii. 605 The little fellow looked at the book a minute,..and in a very caustic, critical manner sneered, ‘Kid stuff.’

1932 S. Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm xiii. 191 She had best not pull any Cinderella stuff on me.

1939 Punch 5 July 9/1 ‘Sam,’ they said to him, ‘what's wrong? You can bowl much better stuff than that.’

1948 Sporting Mirror 21 May 7/3 Jack Martin may also be available for fast stuff on occasions.

1974 Times Lit. Suppl. 26 Apr. 440/3 The principal message [of Hochhuth's comedy Lysistrate und die NATO] is largely straightforward feminist stuff.

1976 National Observer (U.S.) 9 Oct. 2/4 The threat of another oil embargo is always serious stuff here.

1978 D. Williams Treasure up in Smoke xiii. 120 What he said was pretty strong stuff... He fairly laid into Mr. O'Hara.

a. U.S. (See quot. 1787) Cf. stuffy adj. 4.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill humour > [noun]

melancholya1393

morosity1534

distemperature1571

distemperance1574

diverseness1574

sullennessa1586

spleen1596

distemper1604

mustinessa1625

canker?1635

distemperedness1649

moroseness1653

tetricalness1653

moodiness1694

dishumour1712

ill humour1748

sulkiness1760

stuff1787

funk1808

sumphishness1830

spleenishness1847

moodishness1857

grouchiness1925

1787 J. Q. Adams Diary 29 Nov. in Life New Eng. Town (1903) 66 She..has rather too much temper, or as it is called in New-England, too much stuff.

b. North American. In various sports, the spin or ‘work’ imparted to a ball in order to make it vary its course; the type of control which effects this. Also figurative.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > [noun] > motion of ball

twist1857

rebound1894

top1901

overspin1904

stuff1905

undercut1920

top-twist-

1905 Sporting Life (Philadelphia) 9 Sept. 1/1 If I tried some of the stuff that certain pitchers use and escape bumping, I have an idea that the fielders would never stop..hitting.

1913 Harper's Weekly 13 Sept. 21/2 Weilman, the giant Brown, is another [pitcher] who has the ‘stuff’.

1927 Daily Tel. 21 Feb. 13/6 T. A. Workman, their captain, was in wonderfully good form against Commander S. W. Beadle, finding an almost perfect length for an American service which had plenty of ‘stuff’ on it. Beadle could not do anything with it, and was kept on the defensive throughout.

1936 J. T. Farrell World I Never Made v. 68 The O'Neills are proud of their name, and they got as much stuff on the ball in the game of life as old Three-fingered Brown has when he toes the mound.

1947 Sun (Baltimore) 3 Apr. 20/1 He is only 20 years old, has a good arm and has much of the well known stuff on the ball.

1967 Varner & Harrison Table Tennis v. 51 These spinners are often one-ball hitters: they vary their ‘stuff’ until you yield a loose return, which they efficiently kill.

1970 J. H. Gray Boy from Winnipeg 152 That got us seats behind home plate where we could watch the stuff, mainly curves, that the pitchers were putting on the ball.

1981 Washington Star 30 Apr. c 4/1 ‘I really had good stuff tonight,’ the lefthander said in a post-game radio interview. ‘My slider wasn't great at the beginning, but my fastball really was good.’

10. slang.

a. Money, cash. Chiefly with article the stuff.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > money > [noun]

silverc825

feec870

pennieseOE

wortheOE

mintOE

scata1122

spense?c1225

spendinga1290

sumc1300

gooda1325

moneya1325

cattlec1330

muckc1330

reasona1382

pecunyc1400

gilt1497

argentc1500

gelta1529

Mammon1539

ale silver1541

scruff1559

the sinews of war1560

sterling1565

lour1567

will-do-all1583

shell1591

trasha1592

quinyie1596

brass1597

pecuniary1604

dust1607

nomisma1614

countera1616

cross and pilea1625

gingerbreada1625

rhinoa1628

cash1646

grig1657

spanker1663

cole1673

goree1699

mopus1699

quid1699

ribbin1699

bustle1763

necessary1772

stuff1775

needfula1777

iron1785

(the) Spanish1788

pecuniar1793

kelter1807

dibs1812

steven1812

pewter1814

brad1819

pogue1819

rent1823

stumpy1828

posh1830

L. S. D.1835

rivetc1835

tin1836

mint sauce1839

nobbins1846

ochre1846

dingbat1848

dough1848

cheese1850

California1851

mali1851

ducat1853

pay dirt1853

boodle?1856

dinero1856

scad1856

the shiny1856

spondulicks1857

rust1858

soap1860

sugar1862

coin1874

filthy1876

wampum1876

ooftish1877

shekel1883

oil1885

oof1885

mon1888

Jack1890

sploshc1890

bees and honey1892

spending-brass1896

stiff1897

mazuma1900

mazoom1901

cabbage1903

lettuce1903

Oscar Asche1905

jingle1906

doubloons1908

kale1912

scratch1914

green1917

oscar1917

snow1925

poke1926

oodle1930

potatos1931

bread1935

moolah1936

acker1939

moo1941

lolly1943

loot1943

poppy1943

mazoola1944

dosh1953

bickies1966

lovely jubbly1990

scrilla1994

1775 R. B. Sheridan Rivals i. i But has she got the stuff, Mr. Fag; is she rich, hey?

1787 Minor 198 He made me an offer of some stuff—for such, you may recollect, is the epithet bestowed by all great philosophers on gold.

1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang (at cited word) ‘Hand over the stuff,’ give the money.

1896 J. F. B. Lillard Poker Stories 50 Those were the days, my boy—..every sport with stuff in his pockets and lots of good clothes.

b. Stolen goods.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > stolen goods > [noun]

theft962

bribec1425

stoutheriec1440

booty1567

thievery1583

snapping1591

filcha1627

pilferagec1626

swag1794

stealing1839

stuff1865

score1914

hot stuff1924

1865 Daily Tel. 3 Nov. 5/1 This particular parcel of ‘stuff’ was arrested, however, in mid course.

1894 Daily News 16 Oct. 2/5 Fitzpatrick at once confessed to complicity in the robbery, and said he would tell where ‘the stuff’ was.

c. Forbidden goods smuggled into a jail.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > goods smuggled into prison

stuff1904

1904 A. Griffiths Fifty Years Public Service xi. 154 We had news constantly of ‘stuff’ planted for cash in exchange.

11. not to give a stuff, etc. = not to give a fuck at fuck n. Phrases 1. Cf. stuff v.¹ 15. Chiefly Australian and New Zealand slang.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > indifference > [verb (intransitive)]

to put in no chaloir1477

not to care1490

to let the world wag (as it will)c1525

not to care a chip1556

to hang loose (to)1591

(to bid, care, give) a fig, or fig's end for1632

not to careor matter a farthing1647

not to care a doit1660

(not) to care twopencea1744

not to give a curse (also damn)1763

not to care a dump1821

not to care beans1833

not to care a darn1840

not to give a darn1840

not to care a straw (two, three straws)1861

not to care (also give) a whoop1867

(to care) not a fouter1871

not to care (or give) a toss1876

not to give (also care) a fuck1879

je m'en fiche1889

not to care a dit(e)1907

je m'en fous1918

not to give a shit1918

to pay no nevermind1946

not to give a sod1949

not to give (also care) a monkey's (fuck)1960

not to give a stuff1974

1974 Bookseller 19 Jan. 117/3 A word or two of criticism: I don't give a stuff for your great managing director.

1976 Sea Spray (N.Z.) Dec. 62/1 Well, deep down inside I don't really give a stuff.

1977 Bulletin (Sydney) 22 Jan. 100/3 The list goes on and on and on and as it grows so does the feeling amongst the blokes in the bush that no one gives a stuff.

1979 N. Gordimer Burger's Daughter i. 42 In the end no one cares a stuff who's in jail or what war's on, so long as it's far away.

1980 B. Mason Solo 207 I don't give a stuff if it was or not. That spoke to me. Opened up my life, things I'd forgotten.

Compounds

C1. attributive passing into adjective: Made of stuff or woollen cloth (see sense 5c).

ΚΠ

a1648 Ld. Herbert Life (1976) 80 A..Person came to mee apparelld in a Black stuffe Suite.

1702 Post Man 17– 19 Sept. 2/2 Sad coloured stuff Coat, and black Hat.

1718 Free-thinker No. 13. 2 Were she to be reduced to a Stuff Gown to Morrow, [she] could part with all her Jewels and Brocades without a Sigh.

1730 Inventory R. Woolley's Goods (1732) 11 3 Chairs with Stuff Seats.

1839 T. B. Macaulay Gladstone in Ess. (1865) II. 65 To tell a barrister..that he shall grow old in his stuff gown, while his pupils are seated above him in ermine.

1842 R. H. Barham Black Mousquetaire in Ingoldsby Legends 2nd Ser. 14 The fusty stuff gown of a Sœur de la Charité.

1856 N. Brit. Rev. 26 248 He led the Northern Circuit in a stuff gown, many silks being obliged to keep their talents in abeyance.

1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. ii. 34 The field thronged with country folk, the men in clean white smocks.., and the women..in new-fashioned stuff shawls.

1897 E. L. Voynich Gadfly i. iii An old stuff frock that was too short for her.

C2. Simple attributive.

stuff goods n.

ΚΠ

1816 Acts 14th Congr. U.S. Sess. 1. c. 107 §1 Blankets, woollen rugs and worsted or stuff goods.

stuff-manufacture n.

ΚΠ

1730 Lett. to Sir W. Strickland 11 The Callicoe-Act..made on purpose to encourage our Stuff-Manufacture.

stuff mercer n.

ΚΠ

1723 London Gaz. No. 6139/3 John Harrison and Richard Harrison,..Stuff-Mercers.

stuff trade n.

ΚΠ

1884 Manch. Examiner 12 Nov. 5/3 It was proclaimed..that the stuff trade had gone to the dogs altogether.

stuff-finisher n.

ΚΠ

1861 Internat. Exhib. 1862, Alph. Lists Trades 39 Stuff Finishers.

stuff-maker n.

ΚΠ

1780 Indenture Clifton, Notts Bennet Thorpe, stuffmaker.

stuff-manufacturer n.

ΚΠ

1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Stuff-manufacturer, a maker of thin woollen cloth.

stuff-seller n.

ΚΠ

1711 London Gaz. No. 4801/4 William Paine,..Stuff-seller.

stuff-weaver n.

ΚΠ

1706 London Gaz. No. 4246/8 William Madlow,..a Stuff-Weaver.

1832 B. Thackrah Effects Arts on Health (ed. 2) Index 237 Stuff-weavers.

stuff-weaving n.

ΚΠ

1702 E. Calamy Abridgm. Baxter's Life & Times iii. 34 Their Common Trade of Stuff Weaving would find Work for all.

d. Parasynthetic.

stuff-bottomed adj.

ΚΠ

1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. x. 215 The..heavy stuff-bottomed chairs.

C3.

stuff ball n. (see quot. 1880).

ΚΠ

1880 C. H. J. Anderson Lincoln Pocket Guide 176 Patronesses of the Stuff Ball. Established in 1787 for the encouragement of native woollen manufacture... The ladies used to wear stuff gowns, and the gentlemen stuff coats [etc.]. [List of Patronesses, 1787–1879, follows.]

stuff-catcher n. Paper-manuf. (see quot. 1920).

ΚΠ

1920 T. W. Chalmers Paper Making 88 The liquid..contains quite a perceptible amount of fibre, together with a..proportion of the sizing and loading materials added to the pulp in the beaters. Efforts to save this material should..be made in the interests of economy. One method of doing so..is by the use of stuff-catchers.

stuff-chest n. Paper-making the vat or reservoir into which the pulps from the beating engine are run and mixed.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > paper-making equipment > [noun] > vat

stuff-chest1799

1799 Hull Advertiser 1 June 1/1 Paper-mill..comprises..four vatts, stuff~chests and beaters.

1881 Spons' Encycl. Industr. Arts IV. 1497 Whence the mixed stuff flows on the sand-tables, to be again used to dilute fresh pulp from the stuff-chests.

stuff engine n. Paper-making the ‘beating engine’, a machine in which half-stuff is reduced to a fine pulp.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > paper-making equipment > [noun] > for pulping

beater1825

beating-engine1825

rag engine1825

stuff engine1839

poacher1866

poaching engine1870

breaking-enginea1877

Hollander1878

breaker1880

kollergang1890

pulp stone1892

1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 924 The construction of the stuff-engine is represented in figs. 785, 786.

stuff gown n. a junior counsel (see 5d above).

ΘΚΠ

society > law > legal profession > lawyer > [noun] > counsellor, barrister, or advocate > junior counsel

devil1818

junior1837

stuff gownsman1852

stuff gown1867

stuff1889

1867 Woolrych Bar & Serjeant-at-Law 7 The promotions will be of a Stuff Gown, as it is called, or of a learned Counsel of the Crown.

stuff gownsman n.

ΘΚΠ

society > law > legal profession > lawyer > [noun] > counsellor, barrister, or advocate > junior counsel

devil1818

junior1837

stuff gownsman1852

stuff gown1867

stuff1889

1852 Fraser's Mag. Feb. 129/1 A sagacious chancellor lifts a stuff-gowns~man from the back row to the judgment-seat.

stuff hat n. (see quot. 1839).

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > hat > made of specific material > other

felt1612

castor1640

chip hat1723

Spanish hat1784

stuff hat1839

tinfoil hat1884

1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 634 The materials used in making stuff hats are the furs of hairs and rabbits freed from the long hair, together with wool and beaver.

stuff heap n. a heap of coals and slack raised from a mine.

stuff mark n. a weaver's mark woven into goods for the purpose of identification or as attestation of their quality.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > indication > marking > mark of quality > [noun] > quality mark on cloth

seal1480

stuff mark1662

1662 Act 14 Chas. II c. 5 §15 Every Person..shall weave his proper Stuff Mark into every peice of Stuff which he shall weave.

stuff-melter n. Soap Manuf. an operative who extracts the oils, fats, etc. from the raw materials.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > makers of other manufactured materials > [noun] > of oil > type of

sturgeon-boiler1673

oil presser1859

stuff-melter1884

1884 A. Watt Art of Soap-making 28 Kitchen-stuff, as prepared by the ‘stuff-melters,’ is a very useful article for mottled soaps.

stuff-over adj. applied to chairs, etc., which are upholstered by having the material drawn over the frame of a fixed seat and secured beneath; also absol. as n., a stuff-over seat.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > [noun] > other seats

desk1560

seat-arch1703

window seat1715

podium1722

sunkie1788

stab1805

screen1820

porch swing1891

club-fender1915

stuff-over1915

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > [adjective] > type of seat

hardbacked1836

cushionless1837

uncushioned1852

spinal1864

tilt-up1891

stuff-over1915

1915 R. S. Bowers et al. Furniture Making xxxi. 353 Stuffover chair and settee.

1930 Morning Post 12 Apr. Deep-seated Stuff-over Settee.

1963 Times 2 Feb. 11 The slip-in seat is almost universal and the stuffover almost unknown in Portuguese Chippendale chairs.

1972 Country Life 1 June 1414/1 Regency mahogany dining chairs..with stuffover seats.

1976 Liverpool Daily Post 11 Dec. (advt.) For sale, stuff-over roll back (Chesterfield Settee in silk damask).

stuff-presser n. Woollen Manufacture a workman employed in pressing or finishing the cloth.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > [noun] > other processes

starching1390

drawing1579

lapper1732

animalization1783

gassing1822

stuff-presser1831

rot-steep1835

plating1843

oversizing1882

Schreinering1905

Schreinerizing1906

potting1920

tie-dye1926

ikat1931

pre-boarding1940

permanent press1944

stentering1946

1831 B. Thackrah Effects Arts on Health 72 Stuff-pressers carry heavy plates of iron heated to redness.

stuff-pump n. Paper-manuf. (see quot. 1920).

ΚΠ

1920 T. W. Chalmers Paper Making 91 For handling the stuff on its way to the machine, pumps are usually required. An example of such a stuff pump..is illustrated in Fig. 79.

stuff shoes n. (see quot. 1892).

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > shoe > [noun] > types of > made from specific material > other > shoes

prunella1710

stuff shoes1794

1794 F. G. Waldron Heigho for Husband i. ii. 3 We'll..put on coarse linen gowns, and stuff shoes; enrol ourselves at a register-office; get good places.

1892 Labour Comm. Gloss. Stuff Shoes, shoes of which the tops or upper parts are made from ‘lasting’ [a woven worsted material], cashmere, or fancy cloth.

stuff-shovel n. (see quot. 1858).

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > paper-making equipment > [noun] > other paper-making equipment

reel1809

deckle1810

ass1823

stuff-shovel1858

grounding-machine1877

asp1919

riffler1924

1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Stuff-shovel, an implement used by the paper~makers.

Draft additions September 2013

colloquial. great (also good, excellent, etc.) stuff: used to express approval, encouragement, or agreement; later also in weakened use, as a general conversational filler.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > approval [interjection]

exactly1866

yah! yah!1886

good stuff1909

good (also nice) thinking1968

roots1974

shiok1977

big-up1993

1909 Lyceumite & Talent Sept. 27/3 ‘Hurrah!’.. ‘Great Stuff, Old Man!’

1917 Boys' Life Oct. 32/2 ‘Let's drive all night and get to Keene Valley in the morning.’ ‘Great stuff, all right. I'm for it.’

1931 Good Housek. (U.S. ed.) Dec. 159/3 I say, in Bill's language: ‘Atta boy! Good stuff!’ And let it go at that.

1984 Washington Post 17 May (Va. Weekly section) 16/3 Rochelle..reports that it's therefore six months since she set aside cigarettes forever. Great stuff!

1994 BBC Worldwide Nov. 72/1 Watching new presenter..Miles wittering through his first interviews. I felt my fingers itch on the remote control when he replied ‘excellent stuff’ for the third time.

2012 D. Nobbs Fall & Rise of G. Coppinger 78 ‘I am Bulgarian. I no have this culture of booze.’ ‘Great stuff. Good man.’

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

stuffn.²

Brit.

/stʌf/, U.S.

/stəf/, South African English

/stʌf/

Forms: Also Middle English stuf.

Etymology: < Dutch stof dust (cognate with German staub): two independent adoptions.

Now South African.

Dust.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > constitution of matter > granular texture > [noun] > state of being powdery > dust

dustc825

mulla1393

stourc1470

stuff1481

mouldera1552

stive1793

1481 W. Caxton tr. Hist. Reynard Fox (1970) 100 Thenne wold he goo aboue the wynde and reyse the duste, that it made his eyen ful of stufs.

1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vi. 145 Herds..scouring away before me..amid such a cloud of stuff raised by their own tearing away that I never knew what I was firing at.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

stuffv.¹

Brit.

/stʌf/, U.S.

/stəf/

Forms: Middle English stoff, 1500s stof, Middle English–1600s stuffe, Middle English–1600s stuf, Middle English– stuff.

Etymology: < Old French estoffer (NE. dialect stoffeir : Anglo-Latin stuffare ) to furnish, equip, garrison (modern French étoffer , to furnish with what is necessary, to supply material for) = Spanish estofar , to embroider in relief, Portuguese estofar , to embroider, to quilt, to stuff (cushions, meat) < Romance *stoffare : for the ulterior etymology see stuff n.¹

†1.

a. transitive. To furnish (a fortified town, stronghold, an army, a commander, etc.) with men, munitions, and stores; to garrison (a town). Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > defence > defend [verb (transitive)] > garrison

set971

bemanc1175

ward1340

garnish?a1400

stuffc1400

fortify1470

force1535

garrison1569

garnison1583

garrisonize1657

society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > [verb (transitive)] > man

manlOE

stuffc1400

c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 1184 For þe borȝ was so bygge baytayled alofte, & stoffed wyth-inne with stout men to stalle hem þer-oute.

1444 Rolls of Parl. V. 74/1 Also to stuffe the Castelles, Tounes, and alle maner Forteresses.

1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur i. i. 35 The kyng..badde hym be redy and stuffe hym and garnysshe hym, for within xl dayes he wold fetche hym oute of the byggest castell that he hath.

1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvii. 350 Wardis..That war stuffit richt stalwardly With stanys, schot, and other thing.

1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvii. 213 The king..vald nocht brek doune the vall, Bot castell, and the toune with-all, Stuff weill with men and vith vittaill And alkynd othir apparaill.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid ix. iv. 4 The Troianis..All thar deray beheld..And baith wyth armour and with wappynnis brycht The tour hedis thai stuffit all that nyght.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xi. ix. 51 A party of the cietezanis, he said, Do stuf the entreis, and the portis defend.

1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) III. 314 He passit to Athell, And stuffit hes ilk castell that wes strang With men and meit.

1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xvi. 653/1 S. Iean a Towne of Normandy..which Edmund Duke of Somerset..had lately fortified and stuft with souldiers.

1640 J. Yorke Battels in Union of Honour 11 Hertford Castle..like wise the Castle of Berkhampsteade, both which he stuffed with French Garrisons.

†b. To furnish (troops) with support; to reinforce; to support, aid (a war). to stuff a chase (Scottish), to provide men for, organize a pursuit. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > [verb (transitive)] > reinforce

enforce1340

stuffc1400

renforce?1473

relieve1487

supply1487

refreshc1500

ranforce1547

strengthen1548

re-enforce1579

reinforce1589

seconda1609

recrew1637

recruit1642

the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > follow behind [verb (intransitive)] > pursue > organize people for a pursuit

to stuff a chasec1400

c1400 Destr. Troy 8284 Menelay with his men meuyt in swithe,..Restorit hom stithly, stuffit hom anon.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 935 Horsis thai wan to stuff the chas gud spede.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 277 To stuff the chas feyll frekis folowit fast.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid x. ii. 89 Gif I evir into that weyr Minysterit dartis, wapynnys, or sic geyr? Or ȝit that bargane stuffyt or bet,..With Cupidis blynd lust and subtilite? Than had bene [etc.].

1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1903) II. 77 To stuffe þis army..war ekit þe auld centurions.

1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) III. 170 Tha tuke haill purpois in that samin place, Efter king Edward for to stuffe ane chace.

1578 J. Rolland Seuin Seages 203 Ane Empreour..Quha had greit Kingis into his companie..Doing seruice... Sum for pastime and sum to stuf his weir.

†c. To marshal (troops). Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > [verb (transitive)] > draw up (troops) > in battle array

setc1275

host1297

ordainc1300

devisec1325

battle1330

arraya1375

stuffc1390

addressa1393

embattle1393

fit?a1400

stedilla1400

fewterc1440

to pitch (also set) a fielda1500

order1509

pitcha1513

deraign1528

marshal1543

re-embattle1590

size1802

form1816

c1390 (?c1350) Joseph of Arimathie (1871) l. 601 Þe stiward of Tholomer stoffes hem to-gedere.

†2.

a. To supply or furnish (a person) with arms, provisions, money, etc. Const. of, with. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > supply > provide or supply (something) [verb (transitive)] > provide or supply (a person or thing) with anything

feather?c1225

serve?c1225

astore1297

purveya1325

purveyc1325

warnishc1330

supply1384

bego1393

garnish?a1400

stuff14..

instore1432

relievec1480

providec1485

appurvey1487

support?1507

furnishc1515

repair1518

supply1529

speed1531

help (a person) to (also with)1569

sort1598

suffice1600

enduea1616

starta1640

employ1690

find1713

to fix out1725

issue1737

service1969

14.. Sc. Acts Robt. I (1844) I. 468/2 Ilk lord sal cum stuffyt & purvayt [L. stuffatus] to þe ost of caryage and vyttalis as he wil be servyt.

1430–40 J. Lydgate tr. Bochas Fall of Princes (1554) ix. xxxviii. 217 I, not expert, nor stuffed with language.

1432 Rolls of Parl. IV. 410/1 The merchantes strangiers been stuffed so gretely therwith.

c1475 Partenay 6378 Thys lady..To all other lades exemplair, Well stuffed with all maner of goodnesse.

1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xi. 47 Off tresour so stuffit is he, That he may vageowris haf plente.

1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer i. f. cccxxxv^v If thou laudest & ioyest any wight, for he is stuffed with suche maner richesse, y^u [read thou] arte in that beleue begiled.

1551 King Edward VI Jrnl. (Roxburghe Club) II. 327 Then, that she shuld be brought at her father's charge three monthes before she was twelf, sufficiently juelled and stuffed.

1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iii. v. 181 A Gentleman..Stuft as they say with honorable parts.

1656 T. Burton Diary (1828) I. 198 This day hath brought you work enough for half a year, and another day will stuff you sufficiently.

†b. To arm and equip (a soldier). Alliterative phrase, stuffed in steel. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > arming or equipping with weapons > arm or equip [verb (transitive)]

weaponc1000

aturnc1220

armc1275

atil1297

attire1297

enarmc1320

apparelc1325

tirec1330

garnish?a1400

stuff?a1400

gearc1400

relieve1487

to set forthc1515

to arm out1533

munition1579

?a1400 Morte Arth. 1932 Whene any stirttez to stale, stuffe þame þe bettere, Ore thei wille be stonayede, and stroyede in ȝone strayte londez.

a1420 Aunters of Arth. 391 In stele was he stuffede, þat stourne vppone stede.

a1483 Liber Niger in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (1790) 17 Every man stuffed and renned [sic] at the Kinges costes of suche defence as he coude best deale withall.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xi. l. 22 The Sotheroun was rycht douchty in thar deid, To-gydder straik, weyll stuffyt in steyll weid.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 266 Befor him come feyll stuffyt in fyne steill.

†3.

a. To furnish (a place) with accessories, stock, inhabitants; to store with provisions, etc. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > supply > provide or supply (something) [verb (transitive)] > provide or supply (a person or thing) with anything > stock (a place, etc.) with something

fillOE

store1264

pitchc1300

stuffc1386

fretc1400

replete?a1425

enstorea1450

engrange1480

plenish1488

freightc1503

people1581

stocka1640

stack1652

bestore1661

to lay in1662

c1386 G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale 208 Houses of office stuffed with plentee.

c1400 Rom. Rose 7065 So that the tour were stuffed wel With alle richesse temporel.

1430–40 J. Lydgate tr. Bochas Fall of Princes (1554) iv. ix. 107 In a caue..he made him to be throu, The place stuffed with good barking houndes.

1449 Sc. Acts Jas. II (1814) II. 36/2 Gif ony man..resettis ony þat ar conuict of tresone..or þat stuffis the housis of þaim þat ar conuict of tresone..[they] sal be punyst as tratouris.

1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cxxiii. 148 They fledde away..and left their houses well stuffed, and graunges full of corne.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 742/1 I stuffe, or store a grounde with thynges that growe and encrease, je peuple.

1546 Supplic. Poor Commons sig. b.vi Bringynge them [sc. children] vp other to beare walletes other els yf they be sturdi to stuffe prisons, & garnishe galowtrees.

1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 168 This Weald:..was.., not planted with Townes,..but stoared and stuffed with heardes of Deare.

1598 R. Barckley Disc. Felicitie of Man ii. 101 Hee buildeth his house with his sonnes money,..and stuffeth it handsomely.

1606 N. Breton Poste with Packet Madde Lett. (new ed.) II. sig. E^v Whose seruants better gouerned? whose house better stuffed and maintained?

†b. To store (goods) in a receptacle or place; to keep (flocks) in a place. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > supply > storage > store [verb (transitive)] > in a receptacle

to shut upc1400

stowc1485

stuff1567

to stow away1795

the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > sheep-farming > rear sheep or wool [verb (transitive)] > fold

foldc1440

stuff1567

sheepfold1610

enfold?1611

cot1804

wattle1908

1567 Bauldwin's Mor. Philos. (Palfr.) (1600) iii. 58 Princes liue more surely with the gathering to them men of good liuing & conuersation, then with treasures of mony stuffed in their chestes.

1605 1st Pt. Jeronimo sig. B Farmers that crack barns, With stuffing corne, yet starue the needy swarmes.

1606 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1889) IV. 280 No person shall att any tyme hencefurthe stuffe, hould, or keepe any sheepe in or vpon any the sayd highwayes.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) ii. i. 346 In Iuory cofers I haue stuft my crownes.

†4. To line (a helmet, a garment) with cloth, etc. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > tailoring or making clothes > tailor or make clothes [verb (transitive)] > line

double14..

stuffc1400

linec1405

c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 606 Þe helme..Þat watȝ stapled stifly, & stoffed wyth-inne.

c1400 Siege Jerusalem (1932) 422 Was noȝt, while þe nyȝt laste, bot nehyng of stedis, Strogelyng in stele wede & stuffyng of helmes.

1473–4 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 16 Gret braid clath to stuf ij doublatis to the King.

1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. c Thai stuffit helmys in hy Breist plait and birny.

1552 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1913) X. 70 Item, ane elne of quhite bukrame to stuff the hude and slevis.

1590 J. Smythe Certain Disc. Weapons 46 Deepe steele skulles in very narrowe brimbd hats, well stuffed for the easines of their heades.

a. To line or fill with some material as a padding; to distend or expand with padding; esp. to fill (a bedtick, cushion, etc.) with packing in order to furnish a yielding support. Also with out, up.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > condition of being internal > make internal or interior [verb (transitive)] > line > pad or stuff

stopc1400

stuffc1450

bolster1530

suffulce1599

pad1741

wad1759

upholster1873

the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > expand or enlarge [verb (transitive)] > distend > with fullness > stuff

stuffc1450

to bulk out?1529

bolster1530

bombase1573

embolster1631

c1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 241 Cadace wolle or flokkys,..To stuffe withal thi dobbelet, and make the of proporcyon.

1480 Wardrobe Accts. Edward IV in N. H. Nicolas Privy Purse Expenses Elizabeth of York (1830) 125 For making and stuffing of a sadelle.

1480 Wardrobe Accts. Edward IV in N. H. Nicolas Privy Purse Expenses Elizabeth of York (1830) 130 Federbeddes stuffed with downe.

1494 Act 11 Hen. VII c. 19 Quyltes mattres and cussions stuffed with horse here.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 741/2 I stuffe a tycke of a bedde with fethers, je emplume.

1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 v. v. 81 Giue me your dublet, and stuffe me out with straw.

a1656 Bp. J. Hall Shaking of Olive-tree (1660) ii. 135 Many a one..hath found nothing but an image of clouts laid upon a bolster stuffed with Goats hair.

a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1679 (1955) IV. 190 The board is made so exactly Even, & the Edges [of a billiard-table] not stuff'd.

1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Baucis & Philemon 47 Two Cushions stuff'd with Straw, the Seat to raise.

a1716 R. South Serm. (1823) V. 140 Many of these [Plato's scholars] found it easier to imitate Plato's shoulders than his philosophy, and to stuff out their gowns than to furnish their understandings.

1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 674 For there [i.e. in the theatre] some noble lord Shall stuff his shoulders with king Richard's bunch.

1827 W. Scott Surgeon's Daughter in Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. II. xv. 350 Horsemen..in a sort of defensive armour, consisting of rich silk dresses, rendered sabre-proof by being stuffed with cotton.

1839 J. W. Burgon Life & Times Sir T. Gresham (1839) I. iii. 210 His breeches, which were stuffed out with cotton, were more useful than ornamental.

1891 F. W. Farrar Darkness & Dawn I. i. 5 He had lingered on, chewing in his agony the tow with which his mattress was stuffed.

1908 Animal Managem. (War Office) 210 To stuff a collar under these circumstances means that it is too tight when the horse puts up muscle.

figurative and in extended use.1633 G. Herbert Temple: Sacred Poems 48 I found that some had stuff'd the bed with thoughts, I would say, thorns.1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. vi. 22 A considerable part of Ancient times, was by the Greeks themselves termed μύθικον, that is made up or stuffed out with fables. 1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. 122 Lying words of miracles, wherewith they stuffe up a whole houres preaching.1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 296 His other Citations, with which his Margin is plentifully stuft out.1782 W. Cowper Hope in Poems 146 No need, he cries, of gravity stuff'd out With academic dignity devout, To read wise lectures, vanity the text.

b. Of material: To serve as padding or stuffing.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > condition of being internal > make internal or interior [verb (transitive)] > line > pad or stuff > serve as stuffing for

stuffc1530

c1530 in Archaeologia 25 503 For vj lb. of flock for to stuff cusshonys iiij d.

1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iii. ii. 43 The barbers man hath bin seene with him, and the olde ornament of his cheeke hath already stufft tennis balls.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) ii. i. 86 Your Beards deserue not so honourable a graue, as to stuffe a Botchers Cushion.

†c. To distend, expand (as if by padding). Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > expand or enlarge [verb (transitive)] > distend > with fullness

strut1540

stuff1605

crawa1658

stuff1827

1605 Famous Hist. Capt. Stukeley sig. I3 The ioyfull breath that issues from thy lips, Comes like a lusty gale to stuffe our sailes.

a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iii. iv. 97 Greefe fils the roome vp of my absent childe:..Stuffes out his vacant garments with his forme.

1631 T. Fuller Davids Sinne xxx. sig. B2 Their very sighs might serve to stuffe the sayle.

1678 T. Porter French Conjurer i. 4 Let his Breeches be made straight and stufft with Whalebone, to reduce his Limbs into a Spanish Posture.

†d. To convert (into something) by stuffing. Obsolete (? nonce-use).

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > condition of being internal > make internal or interior [verb (transitive)] > line > pad or stuff > convert into by stuffing

stuff1724

1724 J. Swift Let. to Molesworth 18 I have read..of an Eastern King who put a Judge to Death for an iniquitous Sentence, and ordered his Hide to be stuffed into a Cushion.

6. Cookery. To fill (the inside of a bird or animal, a piece of meat, etc.) with forcemeat, herbs, etc. as a stuffing.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation for table or cooking > stuffing > stuff [verb (transitive)]

to stop full1342

farcea1400

force?a1400

stuffc1430

marinate1722

bombard1747

truffle1868

c1430 Two Cookery-bks. i. 32 Fyrste Stuffe þin chekons in þis wyse.

c1430 Two Cookery-bks. i. 40 Þan stuffe hem as þou stuffyst a Pigge.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 741/2 I stuffe a podyng or suche lyke, je farce.

1570 in J. Gutch Collectanea Curiosa (1781) II. 6 For a lege of mutton to be boyled and stofed with parshleye..viij d.

1591 A. W. Bk. Cookrye (rev. ed.) 12 To make puddings of a Swine..take the guts clean washed, and stuffe them with the aforesaid stuffe.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. v. 26 As shee went to the Garden for Parseley to stuffe a Rabit.

a1627 T. Middleton More Dissemblers besides Women iv. ii, in 2 New Playes (1657) 52 I would they [sc. the ducks] were all rotten rosted, and stuft with Onions.

1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery ii. 26 To Stuff a Leg or Shoulder of Mutton.

1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery ii. 36 Take a Turky or Fowl, stuff the Breast with what Force-Meat you like.

1846 A. Soyer Gastron. Regenerator 255 Stuff the rabbits and roast them.

1855 R. K. Philp Pract. Housewife 108 Tomatas, to stuff.—Take some fine tomatas and scoop the inside out, [etc.].

7. To fill out (the skin of a beast, bird, etc.) with material so as to resemble the living creature; spec. in Taxidermy, to fill the skin of (a bird or beast) with materials to preserve it and present it in its natural form.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > condition of being internal > make internal or interior [verb (transitive)] > line > pad or stuff > a dead animal

stuff1555

1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 261 He causeth them [rebels] to be slene... Then to bee stuffed with chaffe, and sette vppe.

1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet v. i. 43 And in his needie shop a tortoyes hung, An allegater stuft .

1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 163 The Cowes..will give no Milke till the skinne of the Calfe bee stuffed and set before them.

1727 P. Longueville Hermit 222 They carried away..the fine Bird he had taken such Pains to dress and stuff.

1821 W. Scott Kenilworth III. v. 73 Many birds have flown as high, that I have seen stuffed with straw, and hung up to scare kites.

1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iii. vii. 63 I was down at the water-side, looking for parrots brought home by sailors, to buy for stuffing.

1915 F. Legge Forerunners of Christianity II. xiii. 281 He was decapitated, and his skin stuffed with straw was suspended at the gate of the town.

a. To fill (a receptacle); esp. to fill by packing the materials closely together, to cram full. to stuff out: to fill a receptacle so full that it bulges; to distend with filling.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > fill > stuff or cram

cramc1000

pitchc1300

thrustc1380

purra1398

stopc1400

farcec1405

stuffc1440

line?1521

enfarce1531

threstc1540

pack1567

prag1567

prop1568

referse1580

thwack1582

ram1590

pang1637

farcinate1638

stivea1639

thrack1655

to craw outa1658

trig1660

steeve1669

stow1710

jam1719

squab1819

farcy1830

cram-jam1880

jam-pack1936

the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > fill > to bursting

strut1648

stodge1674

burst1697

to stuff out1827

c1440 J. Lydgate Horse, Goose & Sheep 616 When deth approchyth..The riche is shet with coloures & picture To hide his careyn stuffid with fowle ordure.

?1521 A. Barclay Bk. Codrus & Mynalcas sig. Ciij^v Some mery fytte..Of Pert of Norwyche,..Or buckysshe ioly, wele stuffed as a ton.

1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 i. ii. 130 If you will go I will stuffe your purses full of crownes.

1612 J. Taylor Laugh & be Fat 17 For as a candle's stuft with cotton weeke, So thou art cramm'd vp to the brim with Greeke.

1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica ii. v. 87 So a glasse stuffed with peeces of spunge.

1675 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Odysses viii. 96 The Horse of Wood..Stufft by Ulysses full of Warriours good.

1705 E. Ward Hudibras Redivivus I. iv. 11 In's Hand a Wallet stuff'd with Papers.

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. x. 93 At another time she imagined her daughter's pockets filled with farthings, a certain sign of their being one day stuffed with gold.

1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 228 But when unpack'd your disappointment groans To find it [sc. a parcel] stuff'd with brickbats, earth and stones.

1827 W. Scott Surgeon's Daughter in Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. II. iii. 87 His pockets stuffed out with bank-notes.

1830–60 O. W. Holmes Dorchester Giant iv Then he brought them a pudding stuffed with plums.

1855 C. Kingsley Westward Ho! xi As soon as Fortune stuffs your mouth full of sweetmeats, do you turn informer on her?

1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 855 The thickening of the hair is due to its being stuffed with fungus.

1904 B. von Hutten Pam i. iii. 14 ‘Well, Jane, and so here we are,’ he began, stuffing his little meerschaum pipe from a leather bag.

b. Said of the filling material. ? Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > completely > a receptacle

stuff1664

1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 25 The crustaceous Cornea of the Creckets Eye, which I have carefully separated from all the matter which stuff'd it within.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 235 With inward Arms the dire Machine they load, And Iron Bowels stuff the dark Abode.

c. To crowd, cram (a vehicle, room with persons). Also intransitive for passive, to be crammed. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > fill > crowd

stuff1571

throng1578

impester1601

thrust1615

throng1637

confluence1656

frequent1667

crowd1695

the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up space [verb (intransitive)] > be or become full > be stuffed or crammed

strut?1611

thwack1650

stuff1799

1571 in J. C. Tingey Rec. City of Norwich (1910) II. 345 The victualling houses were stuffed with players and dronkerdes.

1799 M. Hunter Jrnl. 27 Feb. (1894) 138 On the wedding-day we assembled at ten o'clock, Jews and Christians; the room as full as it could stuff.

1829 C. Rose Four Years S. Afr. 10 The long heavy waggon..hired for the day, and stuffed with black damsels.

d. U.S. ‘To put fraudulent votes into (a ballot-box)’ (Webster 1911).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > expression of choice by some approved method > give (a vote) [verb (transitive)] > put fraudulent votes in box

stuff1857

1857 W. Chandless Visit Salt Lake II. iii. 178 The ballot-box,..particularly if some one, as at San Francisco, has taken the liberty to ‘stuff’ it—‘fails of its mission’.

1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms 20 Ballot-box stuffing..consists in the use of a box..so constructed with a false bottom and compartments as to permit the introduction of spurious ballots.

1879 A. W. Tourgée Fool's Errand xl. 298 I affirm that every cent of this money was used..to stuff ballot-boxes.

1890 H. M. Field Bright Skies & Dark Shadows 127 Ballot boxes may be emptied of the ‘wrong’ votes, and stuffed with the ‘right’ kind.

1906 Q. Rev. July 283 The interval had been devoted to stuffing the ballot-boxes.

e. To pack or load (a freight container). slang.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > transport > [verb (transitive)] > load a container

stuff1965

1965 R. B. Oram Cargo Handling vi. 115 Containers can come into..a Consolidation Depot where they are stuffed with miscellaneous general cargo.

1968 Wall St. Jrnl. 27 Sept. 34/2 Management agreed to allow the dockworkers to strip and stuff containers in which mixed types of cargo had been packed.

1972 Timber Trades Jrnl. 13 May . 44/1 The dockers threaten to continue the ban until their demands are met which include the exclusive right to stuff (pack) and unstuff (unpack) containers.

1972 Nature 11 Aug. 301/2 British dockers are..asking that members of their union should have a right to employment at the centres at which containers are stuffed with goods.

9. figurative.

a. To fill, crowd (speech, etc.) with something (usually something objectionable).

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > fill > specifically in immaterial sense > speech or writing

stuffa1568

a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) ii. f. 43^v Som man..is ouer full of words, sentences, & matter, & yet all his words be proper..his whole matter grownded vpon good reason, & stuffed with full arguments.

1576 A. Fleming tr. Cicero in Panoplie Epist. 126 It shall not neede to stuffe my letter with particularities.

1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Britain i. 270 Stuffed hee [Nennius] hath that little booke with many a pretty lie.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iv. iv. 126 I will not looke vpon your Masters lines. I know they are stuft with protestations, And full of new-found oathes.

1682 J. Dryden Medall Epist. Whigs sig. A3 Your Seditious Pamphlets are stuff'd with particular Reflexions on him.

1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 8 Those Accusations..are commonly stuffed with many odious Generals, that the Proofs seldom make good.

1707 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 22 Apr. (O.H.S.) II. 8 His Discourse was stuff'd with Anglicisms.

1768 H. Walpole Hist. Doubts 123 John Rous..is an author to whom no credit is due, from the lies and fables with which his work is stuffed.

1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India III. vi. i. 35 The absurdities, with which..a bill of indictment is frequently stuffed.

1886 F. Harrison Choice Bks. 84 A book stuffed with curious facts.

b. To fill (a person, his mind, heart, etc.) with ideas, feelings, etc. Also with up.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > fill > specifically in immaterial sense

fillOE

fulfila1300

replete1482

replenishc1529

stuff1531

install1577

charge1581

saturate1737

brim1844

supercharge1846

implete1862

earwig1880

infill1880

1531 W. Tyndale Expos. 1 John (1537) 77 They be so full stuffed wyth lyes, that they can receaue nothyng els.

1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes (new ed.) f. 9^v I see well..by the sighes that thou outthrowest: That thou art stuffed full of wo.

1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie ii. xii. 47 b Fortune..stuffed the hearte of the Athenians with..insatiable ambition.

1587 G. Turberville Tragicall Tales f. 74 The Queene perceiuing this In mockage to be ment Of Alboyne..Was stuft with raging rancour streight.

1611 W. Trumball Let. 17 Feb. in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. i. 563 These Provinces are no lesse stuffed with the unlikely newes of the King of Spaine's inclination to matche with y^e Lady Elizabeth then the Courte of Madrid.

a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iv. ii. 133 Do not seeke to stuffe My head with more ill newes: for it is full.

a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Spanish Curat iv. v, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. G^v/2 Pray ye buy Books,..You have a learned head, stuffe it with Libraries.

1642 D. Rogers Naaman 110 They were stuft so full of their own skill and knowledge, that they scorned his simplicity.

1651 in T. Fuller Abel Redevivus 562 These men were stuffed with such pride, self-conceit, disdain, and intolerable contempt, that [etc.].

1743 A. Pope Dunciad (rev. ed.) iv. 249 For thee we dim the eyes, and stuff the head With all such reading as was never read.

1876 Ld. Tennyson Harold ii. ii. 40 I have often talk'd with Wulfnoth, And stuff'd the boy with fears that these may act On Harold when they meet.

1886 F. Harrison Choice Bks. 2 Now, to stuff our minds with what is simply trivial, simply curious..this is to close our minds to what is solid and enlarging.

1889 J. K. Jerome Three Men in Boat 7 Don't stuff up your head with things you don't understand.

c. slang. To ‘cram’, hoax, humbug (a person). Also with up.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > trickery, playing jokes > trick, hoax [verb (transitive)]

jape1362

bejape1377

play1562

jugglea1592

dally1595

trick1595

bore1602

jadea1616

to fool off1631

top1663

whiska1669

hocus1675

to put a sham upon1677

sham1677

fun?1685

to put upon ——1687

rig1732

humbug1750

hum1751

to run a rig1764

hocus-pocus1774

cram1794

hoax1796

kid1811

string1819

to play off1821

skylark1823

frisk1825

stuff1844

lark1848

kiddy1851

soap1857

to play it (on)1864

spoof1889

to slip (something) over (on)1912

cod1941

to pull a person's chain1975

game1996

1844 ‘J. Slick’ High Life N.Y. I. 113 I wonder if these leetle coots think I'm soft enough to believe that [etc.]... They don't stuff me up that way, any how, if I did come from the country.

1859 J. C. Hotten Dict. Slang 104 Stuff, to make false but plausible statements, to praise ironically, to make game of a person,—literally to stuff him with gammon or falsehood.

1885 Harper's Mag. Apr. 730/1 ‘That chatter-box Lenoir was joking,’ he said; ‘he was stuffing you to see how much you would both swallow.’

10.

a. To fill (oneself, one's stomach, etc.) to repletion with food. Also said of the food.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > excessive consumption of food or drink > eat or drink to excess [verb (transitive)] > feed (oneself) to excess

over-quatc1275

glutc1315

fill1340

stuffa1400

aglutc1400

agroten1440

grotenc1440

ingrotenc1440

sorporrc1440

replenisha1450

pegc1450

quatc1450

overgorgea1475

gorge1486

burst1530

cloy1530

saturate1538

enfarce1543

mast?1550

engluta1568

gull1582

ingurgitate1583

stall1583

forage1593

paunch1597

upbray1598

upbraid1599

surfeitc1600

surcharge1603

gormandize1604

overfeed1609

farcinate1634

repletiate1638

stodge1854

the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > satisfying hunger or thirst > satisfy or relieve hunger or thirst [verb (transitive)] > fill to satisfaction

stuffa1400

a1400–50 Wars Alex. 4436 Ȝoure mawis ȝe fill, With bakin mete..Stuffis so ȝour stomake with stullis & of wynes.

c1430 J. Lydgate Minor Poems (Percy Soc.) 155 The ryche man sit stuffyd at his stable [read table], The poore man stant hungry at the gate.

1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iii. xi. 91 Wines..wherof they do stuffe them selues so ful.

1600 Weakest goeth to Wall sig. B2^v O for one pot of mother Bunches Ale,..it would cleare my sight, comfort my heart, and stuffe my veines.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) v. i. 53 When we haue stufft These Pipes, and these Conueyances of our blood With Wine and Feeding, we haue suppler Soules Then in our Priest-like Fasts.

1657 A. Sparrow Rationale Bk. Common Prayer (new ed.) 156 Aerius and his followers..rising early to fill themselves with flesh and wine with which being full stuft they..scoff at the Catholick Christians folly.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 601 Ravin..Which here, though plenteous, all too little seems To stuff this Maw.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xii. xii. 288 He was prevailed upon not only to stuff himself with their Food, but to taste some of their Liquors.

1800 P. B. Shelley Verses on Cat i It waits for some dinner To stuff out its own little belly.

1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 1043 The latter [i.e. an Indian]..has so to stuff his stomach three or four times a day, that dilatation of that organ..must necessarily ensue.

1903 G. H. Lorimer Lett. Merchant xvii. 249 [He] Stuffed himself till his hide was stretched as tight as a sausage skin.

b. To cause (a patient) to eat to repletion. Also, to treat (a disease) by feeding up the patient.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > treatments by diet > treat by prescribed diet [verb (transitive)] > treat by specific diet

starve1617

stuff1769

sagoize1847

1769 W. Buchan Domest. Med. ii. 168 Stuffing the patient with sweet-meats and other delicacies, is likewise very pernicious.

1849 H. D. Thoreau Week Concord & Merrimack Rivers 270 Stuff a cold and starve a cold are but two ways.

1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 163 A cure was effected simply by stuffing them with food.

†c. To satiate, glut. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > be or become wearied or bored with [verb (transitive)] > satiate or surfeit

sadeOE

overcloy1527

satiatea1530

stuff1530

cloy1576

clog1590

surcloy1594

satea1616

clama1670

pall1680

stale1709

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 741/2 I am as moche stuffed at the stomacke with the savour of this meate as if I had eaten a great meale: je suis autant assouny en lestomac [etc.].

1603 S. Daniel Def. Ryme in Panegyrike (new ed.) sig. H6^v Those continuall cadences of couplets..runne on with..a kinde of certaintie which stuffs the delight rather then intertaines it.

d. intransitive for reflexive. To gorge oneself with food.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > excessive consumption of food or drink > eat or drink to excess [verb (intransitive)] > be gluttonous

gourmanda1450

gormandize1548

belly-cheer1549

gurmander1570

overfeed1589

overeat1590

glutton1602

cram1609

gutc1616

pamper1620

guttle1654

gluttonize1656

engorge1667

stuff1728

guddle1825

to make a pig of oneself1873

guts1903

1728 Street-robberies, Consider'd 14 I..call'd for my Dinner, and stufft heartily.

1733 J. Swift Epist. to Lady 8 Let them neither starve, nor stuff.

1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 224 Gluttony stuffs till it pants, and unbuttons and stuffs again.

1794 J. Webster Gen. View Agric. Galloway 16 They go to the plough at 6 in the morning, and return at 2 in the afternoon; when they begin to feed, (or stuff which is their phrase).

1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility II. viii. 140 And such a mulberry tree in one corner! Lord! how Charlotte and I did stuff the only time we were there!

1840 R. H. Barham Bagman's Dog in Ingoldsby Legends 1st Ser. 328 The Bagman bluff Continued to ‘stuff’, Of the fat, and the lean, and the tender and tough.

e. transitive. To gorge (food). Also with down.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > excessive consumption of food or drink > eat or drink to excess [verb (transitive)]

engorge1497

ingurgitate1570

guzzle1583

gurgitate1656

gorge1713

stuff1743

stow1833

1743 E. Montagu Let. 8 Jan. in E. J. Climenson Elizabeth Montagu (1906) I. 142 Wishing many good things to a boy who was stuffing a luncheon of bread and butter.

1775 J. Jekyll Let. 30 May in Corr. (1894) i. 24 At six they stuff bread and cakes and wine.

1819 J. Jekyll Let. 22 June in Corr. (1894) iii. 80 Lord Yarmouth again takes..a large party of us in the Admiralty barge next week to stuff whitebait at the ‘Artichoke’ beyond Greenwich.

1908 G. K. Chesterton Man who was Thursday 169 They paused for a few minutes only to stuff down coffee and coarse thick sandwiches at a coffee stall.

11.

a. To fill (an aperture, cavity, etc.) by thrusting something tightly in; hence, to stop up, to plug; †to stop (a tooth). Also of a material: To fill up so as to block (an aperture).

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > close or shut [verb (transitive)] > close an aperture or orifice > by thrusting something in

rama1425

stuff1597

the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > fill > fill a vacant space or place > fill a hole or gap

stop1388

stuff1597

to fill up1598

to fay in1847

infill1958

the world > health and disease > healing > dentistry > practise dentistry [verb (transitive)] > fill

stop1592

stuff1824

fill1848

remineralize1860

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II i. i. 44 Once more, the more to aggrauate the note, With a foule traitors name stuffe I thy throte.

1682 G. Hartman Digby's Choice Coll. Rare Secrets i. 139 The Ashes must be taken out..that they may not stuff up the place.

c1724 J. Swift Answer Delany in Wks. (1735) II. 304 Which made my Grand-Dame always stuff-her-Ears.

1823 W. Scott St. Ronan's Well II. xi. 272 I would rather..that my ears were stuffed with the earth of the grave, than that they should again hear your voice!

1824 C. K. Sharpe Corr. (1888) II. 323 Had I not been under the hands of..the dentist, touching a diabolical tooth, which cannot be stuffed, and I am sweer to pull.

1833 J. Rennie Alphabet Sci. Angling 36 I found an old willow stump full of holes stuffed with clay.

1883 J. Gilmour Among Mongols vi. 83 The hero..stuffing the mouth of the hole with his white bonnet.

b. To fill up (a joint or other space) by cramming something in; spec. in Building, to fill in the inside (of a wall) with concrete or rubble. ? Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > surfacing or cladding > clad or cover [verb (transitive)] > fill in gaps

stop1388

beamfill1469

stuff1601

caulk1616

run1657

strike1668

fog1678

chinse1770

sneck1792

darn1801

pug1820

chink1822

grout1838

fillet1843

gallet1851

slush1875

putty1879

spackle1950

society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or providing with specific parts > build or provide with specific parts [verb (transitive)] > provide with wall(s) > build or repair wall in specific way

windc900

quarter1580

stuff1601

honeycomb1908

1601 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Trauellers Breuiat 96 Commonly the wals of strong places are built of great beames stuffed with turffe or mosse, leauing loopholes for their shot.

1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 46/1 Let them be..as broad as the Wall, that there may be no need to stuff the middle with rubbish.

1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 47/1 The Ancients made it a rule in stuffing their Walls, not to continue the stuffing uninterrupted to the heighth of above five foot.

1776 G. Semple Treat. Building in Water 78 He treats largely of..filling (or stuffing as he calls it) the inside with small Stones, and Lime-liquid.

†12.

a. Of bodily humours: To clog, choke up (the body, its organs, vessels, etc.). Also with up. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > cause disorders of internal organs [verb (transitive)] > obstruct

oppilate?a1425

stuff?1527

?1527 Iudycyall of Vryns iii. vii. 51 b Whan y^e liuer is stopped & stuffed through mater of euyl humours.

?1527 Iudycyall of Vryns iii. ii. 48 Yf that parte of the hede be agreued & stuffed or stonyed, through euyll humours and fumosites.

1579 T. Lupton Thousand Notable Things viii. 208 Whosoever..is stuffed in the stomacke with tough or harde fleame.

1618 S. Latham New & 2nd Bk. Falconrie xxviii. 131 Whensoeuer you shall..haue such a Hawke that is any whit stuft in the head.

1657 J. Cooke tr. J. Hall Sel. Observ. Eng. Bodies 98 The stomach being stuffed and burdened with ill humors.

1710 T. Fuller Pharmacopœia Extemporanea 95 It..stuffs up the loaded Bronchia with a fresh Income of Filth.

1750 J. Theobald App. Medulla Med. Univ. 65 This Gargle..is to cleanse and scour the Glands of the Mouth from the Phlegmatic Matter, that stuffs and swells them.

†b. To cause stuffiness in (the head or nose).

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disorder of respiratory organs > cause disorder of respiratory organ [verb (transitive)] > cause stuffiness or obstruction

stuff1555

1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions ii. i. 116 The plenty of swiete odours, and sauours in those quarters, doeth verely stuff y^e smelling.

1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iii. iv. 59 Beat. I am stuft cosin, I cannot smell.

1620 T. Venner Via Recta ii. 39 The more bitter it be drunken, the more it filleth and stuffeth the head.

13.

a. To thrust (something, esp. loose materials) tightly into a receptacle or cavity. Also figurative. Also with away, in.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > insertion or putting in > insert or put in [verb (transitive)] > forcibly > cram or stuff in

crama1400

wedge1513

enfarce1564

pester1570

farce1579

stuff1579

ram1582

impact1601

thrum1603

to cramp in1605

crowd1609

impack1611

screw1635

infarciate1657

stodge1674

choke1747

bodkin1793

jam1793

bodkinize1833

pump1899

shoehorn1927

1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue f. 44^v The Romanistes so cloyed the church with their fond festiuals, leud Legendes, and stuffed into the seruice of God such store of idle reuelations,..that [etc.].

1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §365 Put them [the rose-leaves] into a Sweet Dry Earthen Bottle,..stuffing them close together.

1650 J. Milton Tenure of Kings (ed. 2) 57 They, in a cautious line or two here and there stuft in, are onely verbal against the pulling down or punishing of Tyrants.

1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas II. vi. i. 422 I bought these dresses, into which we may stuff an inquisitor, a notary, and an alguazil, and play the parts.

1843 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross I. v. 88 With hands stuffed into his side pockets.

1878 Chambers's Jrnl. 19 Jan. 42/2 A woman was busy making a clearance of such articles as she could stuff away in corners and behind chairs.

1901 W. R. H. Trowbridge Lett. Mother to Elizabeth xxi. 100 She stuffed her handkerchief into her mouth to keep from shrieking.

1904 R. Bridges Demeter 280 He, like a hurried thief, Stuffs his rich silks into too small a bag.

1907 J. H. Patterson Man-eaters of Tsavo xxiv. 276 Courageously stuffing his left arm right into the great jaws.

b. To pack tightly (a person) in a confined space; to crowd (a number of persons together). Also with down, up.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (transitive)] > crowd together

thrumble1513

throng1539

pack1545

serr1562

close1566

frequent1578

thwack1589

contrude1609

crowd1612

serry1639

wedge1720

stuff1728

pig1745

jam1771

condensate1830

wad1850

sardine1895

1728 C. Cibber Vanbrugh's Provok'd Husband ii. i. 26 One has really been stufft up in a Coach so long, that—Pray Madam—could not I get a little Powder for my Hair?

1770 J. Langhorne & W. Langhorne tr. Pericles in Plutarch Lives (1879) I. 196/1 A number of people stuffed together..in small huts.

1786 E. Inchbald I'll tell you What i. i. 4 If we are stuffed into a coach.

1900 E. Glyn Visits of Elizabeth 195 There I was, taken off to a sofa..and stuffed down between Godmamma and the Marquis's mother.

intransitive for reflexive.1750 M. Delany Autobiogr. & Corr. (1861) II. 535 I cannot forgive Mrs. J. stuffing into your chariot.

14. Leather Manufacturing. To dress (a skin) with a coating of dubbing or stuffing.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with skins > work with skins [verb (transitive)] > treat with grease or oil

liquor1502

dub?1611

shamoy1842

stuff1844

wax1885

dubbin1897

fat1903

fat-liquor1903

1844 Newton's London Jrnl. Conjoined Ser. 25 247 When the skin or hide is taken out of tan..the patentees oil the grain with good clean oil, then stuff the fleshy side with a mixture of oil, tallow, and turpentine, and hang it up to dry.

1885 H. R. Procter Text-bk. Tanning 193 The process of currying consists in softening..the hides and skins..and in saturating or ‘stuffing’ them with fatty matters.

15.

a. Used in coarse expressions of contempt or defiance. Cf. fuck v. 4; stuffed adj. 6.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > hold in contempt [verb (transitive)] > reject contemptuously

spurnc1000

defyc1320

refusec1350

to kick against or ata1425

spurn1526

asperne1548

explodea1552

to cast (also throw) at one's heels1555

mock1558

foot1600

outscout1602

slighta1616

scout1710

stuff1955

the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [verb (transitive)] > obscene oaths

pox1601

bugger1779

frig1905

fuck1922

shag1933

stuff1955

motherfuck1965

feck1972

1955 P. Larkin Less Deceived 30 Ah, were I courageous enough To shout stuff your pension!

1958 F. Norman Bang to Rights 168 The geezer just got up and told him to stuff his job.

1962 J. Wain Strike Father Dead iv. 205 Very well, they could keep the whole outfit. And stuff it. I wasn't even going to stay in the same miserable country.

1965 ‘T. Hinde’ Games of Chance i. iii. 99 ‘Stuff you,’ I said.

1973 J. Porter It's Murder with Dover i. 2 He should have taken a stronger line... Told old Crouch to stuff it.

1976 ‘W. Trevor’ Children of Dynmouth xi. 204 She goes up to him and tells him to stuff himself and in a flat half-minute he's belting the old lorry up the London road.

1977 Time 28 Mar. 11/1 Stuff the criticism. He said what he was going to do. He won the election and now he's doing it.

b. coarse slang. (With male subject) to copulate with (someone). Occasionally intransitive.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > engage in sexual activity with [verb (transitive)] > have sexual intercourse with > specifically of a man

jape1382

overliec1400

swivec1405

foilc1440

overlay?a1475

bed1548

possess1592

knock1598

to get one's leg over1599

enjoy1602

poke1602

thrum1611

topa1616

riga1625

swingea1640

jerk1650

night-work1654

wimble1656

roger1699

ruta1706

tail1778

to touch up1785

to get into ——c1890

root1922

to knock up1934

lay1934

pump1937

prong1942

nail1948

to slip (someone) a length1949

to knock off1953

thread1958

stuff1960

tup1970

nut1971

pussy1973

service1973

1960 B. Moore Luck of Ginger Coffey iv. 85 Trying to stuff another man's wife, is that your idea of being a friend?

1977 F. Raphael Cracks in Ice (1979) 333 Satura..can also be applied, since it was originally adjectival, to a pregnant woman and to a sausage, both of which, in vulgar parlance, can clearly claim to have been stuffed.

1982 J. Scott Uprush of Mayhem vi. 63 You come all the way from the city..to stuff—to have intercourse with her.

1983 Sunday Times 16 Jan. 35/3 He was sacked from Eton for stuffing the boys' maids.

Compounds

stuff-guts n. one who is addicted to gorging the stomach; in quot. 1875 attributive.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > excessive consumption of food or drink > [noun] > gluttony > glutton

glutton?c1225

glutc1394

globberc1400

glofferc1440

gluttoner1482

gourmanda1492

ravener1496

belly1526

golofer1529

lurcher1530

cormorant1531

flesh-fly1532

full-belly1536

belly-godc1540

flap-sauce1540

gourmander1542

gully-gut1542

locust1545

glosser1549

greedy-guts1550

hungry gut1552

belly-slave1562

fill-belly1563

grand paunch1569

belly-paunch1570

belly-swainc1571

trencher-slave1571

slapsauce1573

gorche1577

helluo1583

gormandizer1589

eat-all1598

engorger1598

guts1598

guller1604

gourmandist1607

barathrum1609

eatnell1611

snapsauce1611

Phaeacian?1614

gutling1617

overeater1621

polyphage1623

tenterbelly1628

gut-head1629

stiffgut1630

gobble-guts1632

gulist1632

polyphagian1658

fill-paunch1659

gype1662

gulchin1671

stretch-gut1673

gastrolater1694

gundy-gut1699

guttler1732

gobbler1755

trencher-hero1792

gorger1817

polyphagist1819

battenera1849

stuff-guts1875

chowhound1917

gannet1929

Billy Bunter1939

guzzle-guts1959

garbage can1963

foodaholic1965

1875 R. Browning Aristophanes' Apol. 112 In me, 't was equal-balanced flesh rebuked Excess alike in stuff-guts Glauketes Or starveling Chairephon.

Draft additions December 2006

transitive. Sport colloquial (originally British). To defeat (an opponent) comprehensively. Cf. stuffing n. Additions.

ΚΠ

1986 Times 13 Sept. 38/3 Five of the team that beat England the other night played against us for Göteborg last season and we stuffed them 7-3.

1995 FourFourTwo Oct. 137/3 Spain stuffed them 5–1 on Albanian soil but usually visiting teams don't enjoy their trip to Tirana.

2004 Seattle Times (Nexis) 1 Jan. e4 The first meeting was 1999, Mike Holmgren's first year in Seattle. The Seahawks stuffed the Packers, 27-7.

Draft additions September 2022

transitive. colloquial (chiefly British, Australian, and New Zealand). To spoil, ruin, mess up, destroy. Also: to cause emotional or psychological harm to (a person or animal); to damage or disturb. Cf. fuck v. 2, screw v. 6b.Sometimes viewed (and used) as a euphemism for fuck, but the sense has developed and endured independently.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [verb (transitive)] > make unstable or unbalanced

overthrow?a1425

touch1607

unhinge1612

unship1827

the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > be unskilled in [verb (transitive)] > bungle

botch1530

bungle1530

mumble1588

muddle1605

mash1642

bumble?1719

to fall through ——1726

fuck1776

blunder1805

to make a mull of1821

bitch1823

mess1823

to make a mess of1834

smudge1864

to muck up1875

boss1887

to make balls of1889

duff1890

foozle1892

bollocks1901

fluff1902

to make a muck of1903

bobble1908

to ball up1911

jazz1914

boob1915

to make a hash of1920

muff1922

flub1924

to make a hat of1925

to ass up1932

louse1934

screw1938

blow1943

to foul up1943

eff1945

balls1947

to make a hames of1947

to arse up1951

to fuck up1967

dork1969

sheg1981

bodge1984

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > an error, mistake > make a mess of [verb (transitive)]

blow1943

to make a hames of1947

to cock up1948

goof1960

to fuck up1967

1972 M. Shadbolt Strangers & Journeys xxii. 482 The last we saw of them, they were running back to the hall. ‘Well, that's stuffed it,’ Sandy said savagely to Paul.

1977 Observer 7 Aug. 19/2 [He] believed that the Irish horse had been ‘completely stuffed’ by that experience [sc. failing to clear a wall in a show-jumping competition].

1989 Canberra Times 30 May 1/1 That's really stuffed it, hasn't it? On top of everything else the Australian economy has to contend with, Moody's announces it is reviewing our credit rating.

1998 J. Glancey C20th Architecture 382/1 Thankfully.., Hitler's Nazi war machine was stuffed by the Allies and Speer was imprisoned.

2012 @Thriftystitcher 22 June in twitter.com (accessed 18 Apr. 2022) Day has been totally stuffed by the bus strike!

2021 Townsville (Queensland) Bull. (Nexis) 26 Oct. 8 A former..prison teacher claims ‘terrifying’ workplace bullying has left him scarred... ‘The bullying totally stuffed me, I'll never be able to work again.’

Draft additions September 2022

colloquial (chiefly British, Australian, and New Zealand). to stuff up.

a. transitive. To ruin or destroy; to make a mess of; to damage, botch, or spoil; to mismanage or mishandle. Cf. to fuck up 1a, to screw up 10a.Sometimes viewed (and used) as a euphemism for to fuck up, but the sense has developed and endured independently.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > be unskilled in [verb (transitive)] > bungle

botch1530

bungle1530

mumble1588

muddle1605

mash1642

bumble?1719

to fall through ——1726

fuck1776

blunder1805

to make a mull of1821

bitch1823

mess1823

to make a mess of1834

smudge1864

to muck up1875

boss1887

to make balls of1889

duff1890

foozle1892

bollocks1901

fluff1902

to make a muck of1903

bobble1908

to ball up1911

jazz1914

boob1915

to make a hash of1920

muff1922

flub1924

to make a hat of1925

to ass up1932

louse1934

screw1938

blow1943

to foul up1943

eff1945

balls1947

to make a hames of1947

to arse up1951

to fuck up1967

dork1969

sheg1981

bodge1984

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > an error, mistake > make a mess of [verb (transitive)]

blow1943

to make a hames of1947

to cock up1948

goof1960

to fuck up1967

1977 Aircraft (Royal Aeronaut. Soc. Austral. Div.) Sept. 23/3 [Pirates are] quite capable of completely stuffing up the industry at a time when demand is stronger than it's been for years.

1977 B. Mason Let. 28 Sept. in B. Mason & D. Dowling Every Kind of Weather (1986) 261 The feeling that we could have had Paradise here, the Just City, and have somehow—there is no better term than yours—stuffed it up.

1992 R. G. Barrett Les Norton's White Shoes, White Lines and Blackie 225 Seems like a shame to stuff up a good pair of track-suit pants.

2009 H. FitzGerald My Last Confession xiii. 67 I told him..I didn't want to get married... Marriage was old fashioned and a sure way to stuff up a good thing.

b. intransitive. To make a (serious) mistake; to completely mismanage or mishandle a situation; to ruin something. Cf. to fuck up 1b, to screw up 10c.Sometimes viewed (and used) as a euphemism for to fuck up, but the sense has developed and endured independently.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > do something unskilfully [verb (intransitive)] > bungle

bungle1549

to put the wrong foot before1590

bebotch1609

to put one's foot in (also into) it1796

mess1823

boggle1853

to make a muff of oneself1884

duff1890

bobble1908

miscue1941

blow1943

to make a porridge (of)1969

sheg1981

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > an error, mistake > blunder [verb (intransitive)] > make a mess of

to have done it1837

to fuck up1944

to make a pig's ear (out) of1954

to make a porridge (of)1969

1985 Age (Melbourne) 13 Dec. 19/2 I..started getting in trouble with the law... I came down to get away from it all and was good for two years. Then I stuffed up again when I started going out with this guy.

1987 Sydney Morning Herald 5 Aug. 1/7 Basically the idea is to let them know that I know that they've stuffed up—to put the fear of God into them so they know that if they stuff up again they're in real trouble.

2000 Independent on Sunday 27 Feb. (Nexis) 25 If by some strange quirk of science we've stuffed up, we'll put our hands up.

2016 Dominion Post (Wellington, New Zealand) (Nexis) 22 Oct. 2 Everyone, even the most ardent critic of rugby, accepts that players will stuff up—sometimes seriously.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online December 2022).

† stuffv.²

Etymology: < Old French estofer (modern French étouffer). = Provençal estofar: of obscure origin.

Obsolete.

1. transitive. To stifle, suffocate.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > crush, stifle, or overwhelm (feelings, etc.)

shendOE

whelvec1000

allayOE

ofdrunkenc1175

quenchc1175

quashc1275

stanchc1315

quella1325

slockena1340

drenchc1374

vanquishc1380

stuffa1387

daunt?a1400

adauntc1400

to put downa1425

overwhelmc1425

overwhelvec1450

quatc1450

slockc1485

suppressa1500

suffocate1526

quealc1530

to trample under foot1530

repress1532

quail1533

suppress1537

infringe1543

revocate1547

whelm1553

queasom1561

knetcha1564

squench1577

restinguish1579

to keep down1581

trample1583

repel1592

accable1602

crush1610

to wrestle down?1611

chokea1616

stranglea1616

stifle1621

smother1632

overpower1646

resuppress1654

strangulate1665

instranglea1670

to choke back, down, in, out1690

to nip or crush in the bud1746

spiflicate1749

squasha1777

to get under1799

burke1835

to stamp out1851

to trample down1853

quelch1864

to sit upon ——1864

squelch1864

smash1865

garrotte1878

scotch1888

douse1916

to drive under1920

stomp1936

stultify1958

the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > heat or make hot [verb (transitive)] > warm a person or the body > oppress with heat

stuffa1387

swelter1601

stivea1722

grill1825

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 289 For aȝenst an hondred of Egbert his knyȝtes, þat were pale men and lene, come a þowsand þat were rody and fat, and were raþer i-stuffed [L. suffocandi] wiþ swoot þan with blood.

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 449 A monke..fil doun of a brigge into a water, and was i-stufled [v.r. y-stoffed; L. suffocatus est].

1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) v. xxiv And ȝif þe matere is colerike and woode it stuffeþ þe beest & sleeþ anon.

c1460 Brut cxxxiii. 138 (Douce 323) Þere was grete hete..þat al stuffed [c1400 stuffled: see stifle v.¹ 1b] was.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 741/2 I stuffe a man with stynkynge savour, je empunaysis.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 741/2 I stuffe one up, I stoppe his breathe, je suffoque. I wyll take the ayre, I was almoste stuffed up in the prease.

1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus (i. 6) 107 He that hath beene in a noysome place is stuffed.

1636 D. Featley Clavis Mystica xl. 618 We all that have lived in the pleasures of sinne, have our senses stuffed and debilitated.

2. intransitive. To become out of breath. Scottish.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered breathing > have or cause breathing disorder [verb (intransitive)] > become short of breath

shortc1000

to blow outc1440

stuff1488

to break one's brain, mind, wind1598

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 285 His hors stuffyt for the way was depe and lang.

1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. cii^v Quhen he is stuffit thair strike.

3. To render stifling.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > heat or make hot [verb (transitive)] > render stifling

stuff1662

1662 R. Boyle Def. Doctr. Spring of Air iii. xviii. 81 [The Air] may thereby become sometimes more stufft, and sometimes more destitute of adventitious Exhalations.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online March 2021).

† stuffv.³

Etymology: Variant of stow v.²

Obsolete. rare.

transitive. = stow v.²

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > maiming or mutilation > maim or mutilate [verb (transitive)] > crop or cut off ears

stow1513

stuff1587

curtalize1622

crop1764

1587 R. Holinshed et al. Hist. Eng. (new ed.) vii. vii. 173/2 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) I He commanded that such pledges as had béene deliuered to his father by certeine noble men..should haue their noses slit, and their eares stuffed [1577 stoued].

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online March 2021).

stuffv.⁴

Brit.

/stʌf/, U.S.

/stəf/

Etymology: Probably back-formation on stuffy adj.

U.K. slang.

intransitive. To confine oneself in a stuffy atmosphere; to remain cooped up; to ‘frowst’.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > be hot [verb (intransitive)] > have or get the sensation of heat > remain in hot or close place

stew1671

frowst1884

stuff1927

1927 R. Lehmann Dusty Answer ii. 63 Why stuff indoors? Come out, Judith.

1941 J. Cary House of Children xxxiv. 142 On wet days we could read as much as we liked without being accused..of stuffing in the house.

1950 J. Cannan Murder Included vii. 167 Babette ignored his whistle, preferring..to stuff indoors.

1985 Company Dec. 52/2 I get a better feeling spending the day with hundreds of appreciative old people than ever I would sitting stuffing in front of the telly.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1993; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

n.¹c1330

n.²1481

v.¹c1386

v.²a1387

v.³1587

v.⁴1927

单词	stuff
释义	stuffn.¹ Brit. /stʌf/, U.S. /stəf/ Forms: Middle English stof, Middle English–1500s stoffe, Middle English–1600s stuffe, Middle English–1500s stuf, Middle English–1700s stufe, (1500s stoufe), Middle English– stuff. Etymology: Middle English stoffe, stof, < Old French estoffe (feminine), material, furniture, provision (modern French étoffe material, stuff, especially textile material) = Provençal estofa, Spanish estofa, Portuguese estofa, cloth, quality, Italian stoffa piece of rich textile fabric. From the Old French word are medieval Latin estoffa, stoffa, Dutch stoffe, stof (feminine), German stoff (masculine), matter, stuff, whence Swedish stoff, Danish stof neuter The ultimate etymology is obscure. Diez conjectured that the Romance stoffa and the related verb stoffare (stuff v.¹) are derived from the Old High German stopfôn (Middle High German, modern German stopfen* ) to plug with oakum, which (as explained s.v. stop v.) represents a West Germanic adoption of medieval Latin stuppāre to plug, stop up, < stuppa tow, oakum. This is open to strong objections: the likelihood of a specifically High German etymon for a Common Romance word is questionable, and the original sense of the Romance verb appears to be, not ‘to plug or stop up’, but ‘to garnish or store with something’. Whether the noun is the source of the verb, or derived from it, is uncertain; the masculine form in Italian stoffo, Portuguese estofo quilted material, is undoubtedly a verbal noun. I. Equipment, provisions, stock, and related uses. 1. Equipment, stores, stock. †a. A body of soldiers; a garrison; an auxiliary force, reinforcement. Also stuff of people. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > group with special function or duty > [noun] conreyc1330 partyc1330 stalec1350 stuff1412 crew1455 working party1744 draft1756 draught1780 commando1791 detail1862 otriad1916 taskforce1927 stick1953 1412–20 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy iv. 2119 Whanne he sawe his Grekis gonne faille And wexe feble to stonden in bataille For lak of stuf þat shulde hem recounforte. c1425 Wyntoun Cron. i. 124 Befor it set wes Cherubin, Þat mai be vnderstandin richt A stuf of angellis blith and bricht. 1430–40 J. Lydgate tr. Bochas Fall of Princes (1554) ii. xiv. 53 b Up he rose and gan hymselfe tauance No stuffe about him but sergeauntes riotous. 1442 Roos & Bekynton in B's. Corr. (Rolls) II. 213 Yf any stuf or pouaire of Englissh pouple had be there. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) v. 258 That ves a sympill stuff to ta, A land or castell for to vyn! 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vi. l. 693 The ii captans sone mett thaim at Beggair With the haill stuff off Roxburch and Berweike. †b. In Middle English poetry, the quilted material worn under the mail, or itself serving in place of armour. In later use: Defensive armour. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > body armour > [noun] > stuffed jacket gambeson1306 pourpointa1325 campesonc1325 acton1328 stuffc1330 haquetona1400 quilta1425 trussing-coat1493 wambais1761 c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace 10031 Vaumbras & rerbras, wyþ coters of stel, Þer-opon an aketon wyþ stof & al sylk [Fr. Hauberc et bon et bel vestu], His cote of armes þer-on. a1400–50 Wars Alex. 2980* Some arays þaim in rynggez some in rawe brenys, Some in stalwart stuffe & some in stele plates. c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 581 & syþen þe brawden bryne of bryȝt stel ryngeȝ Vmbe-weued þat wyȝ, vpon wlonk stuffe. c1420 Anturs of Arth. xlv He..Thro the wast of the body wowundet him ille; The squrd styntet for no stuffe, he was so wele stelet. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) iv. l. 667 With Ire him straik on his gorgeat off steill. The trensand blaid to-persyt euirydeill Throu plaitt and stuff, mycht nocht agayn it stand. 1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. cv He..Hakkit throw the hard weid to the hede hynt Throw the stuf with the straik..He hewit attanis. 1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 130 Thir wicht men weildit thair waponis so weill, That euerie straik out-throw thair stuf of steill Thay gart the blude brist out. †c. The materials, stores, or supplies belonging to an army; munitions of war; more definitely stuffs of war. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military organization > logistics > [noun] > provision or procurement of supplies > supplies stuffc1440 supply1510 supply1512 bastiment1594 material1815 matériel1819 subsistence stores1819 c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 481/1 Stuffe, or stuffure, staurum. c1450 Brut ii. 428 He ordeynyd hym a newe retenewe of men of armys and archeris, with alle maner of othir stuffis that bylongid therto. a1466 W. Gregory Chron. in Hist. Coll. Citizen London (Camden) 161 And he toke alle hyr ordynauns of gonnys and alle hyr vytayle, with alle the othyr stoffe that was at the sege, that is to saye, xiiij gonnys,..and ij C pypys of brede and floure,..and othyr stuffe of pavys and tentys. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvii. 176 Wittaill thai fand in gret fusioune, And all that fell till stuff of toune. a1500 ( Bale's Chron. in R. Flenley Six Town Chron. (1911) 116 Item this yere the duke of Somerset w^t a grete power ordenance and stuff moustred at portesmouth diverse tymes. a1500 ( Bale's Chron. in R. Flenley Six Town Chron. (1911) 152 W^t greet ordenannce of Gonnes and other stuffs of werre. †d. The baggage of a soldier or an army; later gen. baggage, luggage. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > travel > aspects of travel > a journey > [noun] > equipment for a journey > baggage trousseauc1230 harnessc1330 fardel1388 flittinga1400 stuff?a1400 baggagec1430 trussellc1440 carriagec1450 trussagec1500 traffic1538 trussery1548 traffe1566 sumpture1567 truss1587 needment1590 luggage1596 sumptery1620 piece1809 traps1813 roll-up1831 dunnage1834 kit1834 way baggage1836 swag1853 drum1861 swag bag1892 ?a1400 Morte Arth. 735 Thus they stowe ine the stuffe of fulle steryne knyghtez. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 277/2 Stuffe caryage, aport, seruage... Stuffe that is in a fardell, fardage. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Sam. xxx. 24 Like as the porcion is of them that wente downe to the battayll, so shal y^e porcion be of them also that abode with the stuffe. a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iv. iv. 150 Come to the Centaur, fetch our stuffe from thence. View more context for this quotation a1625 J. Fletcher Noble Gentleman ii. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Dd4/1 I see my folly, Packe up my stuffe, I will away this morne. 1653 H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto Voy. & Adventures i. 2 There I found a Carvel of Alfama, that was laden with the horses and stuff [Pg. cavallos e fato] of a Lord. e. Stock or provision of food. Obsolete exc. Scottish. Cf. 6c.More definitely †stuff of victual. †lent(en) stuff: fish procured as a provision for Lent. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > supply of food or provisions > [noun] victualsa1375 substancec1384 repasta1393 kitchenc1400 tablec1405 stuff1436 acates1465 acatry1522 victualling1532 provision1555 achates1570 plate1577 avitaile1592 support1599 horn and corn1633 subsistence1640 cribbing1652 purvey1678 commissariat1811 ration1814 commissary1883 the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > seafood > [noun] > fish > fish eaten during lent lent(en) stuff1436 1436 in Hist. MSS Comm.: Rep. MSS Var. Coll. (1907) IV. 199 in Parl. Papers 1906 (Cd. 3218) LXIV. 1 We..have notable purveyd for the defense and kepynge of hem, as well in sufficiaunce of nombre of men and in stuff of vitaille, artillerie and alle manere abillemens of werre as otherwyse. c1506 in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) 198 And your Lenten stoufe is to bey, & I wote not what to do. 1535 Sc. Acts James V (1814) II. 347/1 Þat Nane forstallaris be fundin byand vittalis fische flesche or vþer stuff or þe samin be presentit to þe mercat..vnder þe pane of presonyng of þare personis. 1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 52^v Take shipping or ride, Lent stuffe to prouide. 1596 J. Harington New Disc. Aiax Prol. sig. Bvj Lo stuffe for you good store To gnaw, chew, bite and eate. a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1667 (1955) III. 480 Then was the banqueting Stuff flung about the roome profusely. 1870 J. Nicholson Idylls o' Hame 113 O' Ne'r~day stuffs we're weel laid in, A sonsy cheese, jist like the mune, Wi' crumpy cakes. f. Provision of corn; in full †stuff of corn; hence corn or grain in any state (see quot. 1825). Obsolete exc. Scottish. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > corn, cereals, or grain > [noun] corn871 curnsa1400 frumentc1440 stuff1461 victual1473 plough-meat1580 fourment1601 breadstuff1793 white victual1799 cereal1832 corn-chandlery1883 mutt-eye1946 the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] corn871 grainc1315 frumentc1440 stuff1461 1461–2 Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) 311 Wher they fyndyth any maner of stof of corn grosyt, they to arest and take up all such stof. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) iii. l. 220 Quhen this was doyne to thar dyner thai went Off stuff and wyne. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 6 In all kynde of stuffe, and cattell it abundes. ?1635 in D. Dickson Sel. Pract. Writings (1845) (modernized text) 94 He were an evil-skilled husbandman, who should take a whole bing of stuff to be chaff, because there is much chaff in it. 1786 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 158 The Simmer had been cauld an' wat, An' Stuff was unco green. 1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Stuff,... It denotes grain in whatever state; whether as growing, cut down, in the barn, or in the mill. g. Property, esp. movable property, household goods or utensils; furniture; more definitely stuff of money, stuff of household. Obsolete except in household stuff n. archaic. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > personal or movable property feec888 goodOE chateus1297 moblea1325 farec1330 harness1340 gearc1380 plentiesc1384 goods and cattel1418 pelfa1425 testament1424 movables1428 personals1436 stuff1438 cattle1473 cabow1489 chattel1549 chattel personal1552 goods and chattels1576 luggage1624 corporeals1647 effects1657 chose1670 personalities1753 stock1776 plunder1780 personal effects1818 personalty1827 taonga1863 marbles1864 society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > [noun] > of a house attirec1325 harness1340 gearc1380 household1420 stuff1438 household stuff1445 standard?1474 utensil1484 inspreith1488 utensilies1496 household goods1501 insight1522 wardrobe stuff?a1527 housewifery1552 plenishing1561 householdry1570 supellectile1584 household effects1762 sticks of furniture1777 house furnishing1827 houseware1827 ingear1835 supellex1849 household appliance1853 homeware1868 home1887 décor1926 1438 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 111 Item to my wyf, all my stuff beyng at the Fasterne. 1439 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 126 All his other godes and stuffes meveable that he leveth vnto hem. c1442–55 Dk. Buckingham in Paston Lett. I. 61 In gode faith, brother,..I have but easy stuffe of money withinne me,..so that I may not plese youre seid gode brotherhode. 1464 Inv. in J. H. Parker Some Acct. Domest. Archit. (1859) III. iv. 113 A grete red standerd full of stuff, locked with 2 lockes. c1490 W. Caxton Rule St. Benet 136 Suche stuff that he hath not yeuen before to folke þat ben poore or other wyse, openly shall he thenne yeue to the monestary. 1501 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 84 I bequethe to Margarett my wyff all my stuff of hous~hold. 1538 Inventories Relig. Houses in Archaeologia (1871) 43 210 Certeyne guddes or stuffe appertaynyng to the seid Monastery remayneth unsolde. 1596 H. Clapham Briefe of Bible i. 65 Joshuah giving in charge that no man take any execrable stuffe of Iericho. 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy ii. iii. iii. 399 A poore man..eates his meat in wooden spoones, wooden platters, earthen Vessels, and such homely stuffe. 1646 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 193 She shall not..haue the vse of any of the goods, stuffe of houshold, chattells, personall estate, or thinges by me herein given to her. 1656 A. Cowley Davideis iii. 89 in Poems Some lead the groaning waggons, loaded high, With stuff, on top of which the Maidens ly. †h. The furnishing proper to a place or thing; appurtenances, apparatus. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > supply > [noun] > that which is supplied > that with which anything is equipped > equipment or accoutrements ornament?c1225 i-wendea1250 atil1297 tacklea1325 apparel1330 conreyc1330 farec1330 tirec1330 apparementc1340 apparelmentc1374 graithc1375 appurtenancec1386 geara1400 warnementa1400 stuff1406 parelling?a1440 farrements1440 stuffurec1440 skippeson1444 harnessa1450 parela1450 implements1454 reparel1466 ordinance1475 habiliments1483 ornation1483 muniments1485 mountures1489 outred1489 accomplement?c1525 trinketc1525 garnishing1530 garniture1532 accoutrementsc1550 furniments1553 tackling1558 instrument1563 ordinara1578 appointment?1578 outreiking1584 appoint1592 dighting1598 outreik1598 apparate?c1600 accomplishment1605 attirail1611 coutrement1621 apparatusa1628 equipage1648 thing1662 equipment1717 paraphernalia1736 tack1777 outfit1787 fittinga1817 fixing1820 set-out1831 rigging1837 fixture1854 parapherna1876 clobber1890 the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [noun] > (a) means > equipment for any action or undertaking ornament?c1225 i-wendea1250 atil1297 tacklea1325 apparel1330 conreyc1330 farec1330 tirec1330 apparementc1340 apparelmentc1374 graithc1375 appurtenancec1386 geara1400 warnementa1400 stuff1406 parelling?a1440 farrements1440 stuffurec1440 skippeson1444 harnessa1450 parela1450 implements1454 reparel1466 ordinance1475 habiliments1483 ornation1483 muniments1485 outred1489 trinketc1525 garnishing1530 garniture1532 accoutrementsc1550 furniments1553 tackling1558 instrument1563 ordinara1578 appointment?1578 outreiking1584 supellectile1584 appoint1592 dighting1598 outreik1598 materialsa1600 apparate?c1600 attirail1611 coutrement1621 apparatusa1628 outrig1639 equipage1648 thing1662 equipment1717 paraphernalia1736 fixture1767 tack1777 outfit1787 fittinga1817 fixing1820 matériel1821 set-out1831 rigging1837 parapherna1876 clobber1890 1406 T. Hoccleve La Male Regle 349 My thank is qweynt, my purs his stuf hath lore. 1427–9 in W. Greenwell Wills & Inventories Registry Durham (1860) II. 75 And I wyl yat y^e stuffe of alle myn howses of offices as kychyn panetre and buttre..remayne to my son. ?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. iiii A cart made of asshe..and lyke stoffe to it, as it is to a wayne. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 277/2 Stuffe for a bedde, acoustrement de lit. 1538 T. Elyot Dict. Choragium, stuffe, proprely wherwith that place is adorned, where as shall be enterludes or disguysynges. a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. iii. 87 Oh mercie God, what masking stuffe is heere? Whats this? a sleeue? 1679–88 in J. Y. Akerman Moneys Secret Services Charles II & James II (1851) (Camden) 160 To Francis Duddell..for sev^ll provisions for church stuff for the chappel at Dublin, 267li. 4s. 10d. 1688 A. Wood Life & Times (1894) III. 285 Common report that lord Delamere, who was about Northampton burning all popish chapel stuffs,..would be at Oxon next day. †i. Cookery. Materials for filling a pie or for stuffing. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > additive > stuffing > [noun] stuffc1450 stuffing1538 stoffado1688 c1450 Two Cookery Bks. ii. 76 Make faire rownde cofyns,..fil hem full of the stuffe, and sette hem ayen in the oven. a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 51 For a pye... Þy stuffe of fressh befe mynse þou schalle..Þen lay þy capon in coffyn fyne. 1533 J. Heywood Mery Play Iohan Iohan sig. A.iii We made a pye..The preest payde for the stuffe and the makyng. 1591 A. W. Bk. Cookrye (rev. ed.) 7 Then mingle all your stuf togither, and put it in your Rabets belly. 1598 tr. G. de Rosselli Epulario I j Take Marchpane stuffe..prepare the paste..then fill it with the stuffe. j. Stock-in-trade. Obsolete exc. northern. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > merchandise > article(s) to be sold > [noun] > stock stuff1560 stock1696 stock-in-trade1775 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxviij^v There is not so lytle a corner any where, that they [sc. merchants] haue not fylled full of theyr stuffe. 1630 Bp. J. Hall Occas. Medit. §xxx Each [street seller] tels what he hath,..and yet (God wot) it is but poore stuffe that they set out, with so much ostentation. 1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial. 506 ‘He's a deal o' stuff on hand, noo’, a very large stock in trade. II. That of which something is or may be made; material. 2. a. Material to work with or upon; substance to be wrought, matter of composition. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > [noun] stuffc1440 materialc1475 material1509 graith1513 subject matter1535 metalc1550 staple1598 tew1616 subjected matter1645 materiable1652 matter1680 ingredient1691 vehicle1837 input1893 c1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 392 Of suche a stufe as esy is to fynde Is best..to bilde. 1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iii. v. 126 They that ben acustomed to make oynements they ought to make hyt proprely of true stuf and of good odoure. 1522 Extracts Burgh Rec. Stirling (1887) 17 And that tha [sc. the candles] be gud and sufficient stoufe. 1524 Extracts Burgh Rec. Stirling (1887) 19 Johen Allan, talyour, was in amerciament for the occupyin of the furruris in furring of ane goune with new stoufe. 1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 347/2 Fistula,..a pipe: a flute, whether it be of reede or other stuffe. 1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie i. iii. 53 Let Phidias haue rude & obstinate stuffe to carue,..his worke will lacke that bewtie which otherwise in fitter matter it might haue had. a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1959) IV. 51 In all the Potters house, is there one vessell made of better stuffe then clay? 1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Treat. Orange Trees iv. 9 in Compl. Gard'ner A Shovel-full of Stuff [Fr. matière] is thrown from each of the two or three separated Heaps [of ingredients for a compost]. 1764 R. Burn Hist. Poor Laws 217 Hemp, wool, flax, or other stuff wrought, shall be sold..either at some market or other place. b. collective. Materials or requisites for a piece of work; esp. building materials. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > types of material generally > [noun] > building-material timbera900 stuff1442 stone and mortar1534 bricks and mortar1576 building-material1833 fabric1849 1442 Rolls of Parl. V. 44/1 The makers of the seid new Brigge, to have free entry and issue, with their Tymbre, cariage, and othir stuffe. 1473–4 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 68 For a leueray colare..gevin to him..price of the colare, stuf and werkmanschip, xj li. viij s. iiij d. 1482 Ordinance Syon Libr. in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1910) 25 122 We fyndyng allemaner of stoffe as Bordes, Couerynges, Curreys, hookes, or Claspes, glewe, and flowre for paaste [for binding the books]. 1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) vi. 149 Whan all his stuff was redy, he made theym to buylde there a strong castell. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 283 Now ordant was althing [sc. for the building of a ship] onestly þere, And abundantly broght þat hom bild might, With all stuff for þe stremes. c1550 in J. H. Parker Some Acct. Domest. Archit. (1859) III. iii. 79 V^c. marc or more to pay wekely pouer workemen, laborers stuff and cariage. a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) Pref. to Rdr. A small cotage, poore for the stuffe, and rude for the workemanship. 1630 R. Norton tr. W. Camden Hist. Princesse Elizabeth ii. 106 The Queene by Proclamation prohibited any new dwelling houses to be built,..vpon paine of imprisonment, and losse of the stuffe brought for the building. 1896 P. J. Davies Standard Pract. Plumbing (ed. 4) II. 801 Stuff, in plumbing, the lead and materials, such as is the stuff on the job. †c. A manufactured material. Cf. sense 5. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > [noun] stuff1555 fabric1753 1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions i. v. 52 Thei did weare..shoes of a certeine kinde of russhes, named Papyrus, whiche after became stuffe, to geue name to our paper. a1626 F. Bacon New Atlantis (1658) 38 Wee haue also diuerse Mechanicall Arts, which you haue not; And Stuffes made by them; As Papers, Linnen, Silks, Tissues; dainty Works of Feathers of wonderfull Lustre; excellent Dies, and many others. 3. transferred and figurative. a. The substance or ‘material’ (whether corporeal or incorporeal) of which a thing is formed or consists, or out of which a thing may be fashioned. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > [noun] > structural material stuff1587 subject1590 material1624 fabric1849 the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > [noun] > substantiality or subsistence > substance or being being1340 substance1340 essencea1398 materialitya1529 stuff1587 subject1590 timber1612 primary substance1774 1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. ix. 145 God for the creating of the world needed neither stuffe nor newe aduisement. a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1623) i. ii. 2 Yet do I hold it very stuffe o' th' [1622 stuft of] conscience To do no contriu'd Murder. a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 156 We are such stuffe As dreames are made on. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. v. 143. a1625 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Two Noble Kinsmen (1634) iii. i. 47 Not finding in The circuit of my breast, any grosse stuffe To forme me like your blazon. View more context for this quotation a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1959) IV. 46 As soone as my soule enters into Heaven, I shall be able to say to the Angels, I am of the same stuffe as you, spirit, and spirit. 1648 Bp. J. Hall Breathings Devout Soul xlviii. 81 When I look back upon the stuffe whereof it [sc. my body] is made, no better then that I tread upon..I have much adoe to hold good terms with so unequal a partner. 1709 T. Robinson Vindic. Mosaick Syst. 14 in Ess. Nat. Hist. Westmorland & Cumberland The Platonick Hypothesis..is to make God an Impotent Cause, not able to make this World with~out Matter and Stuff to work on. 1785 E. Burke Speech Nabob Arcot's Debts in Wks. (1792) II. 502 The debt of the company from the rajah of Tanjore, is just of the same stuff with that of the nabob of Arcot. 1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad xxxii. 47 From far..The stuff of life to knit me Blew hither: here am I. 1900 H. Macpherson Herbert Spencer v. 68 Now, in tracing the Universe, science can get no further back than the nebula, or world-stuff. 1914 A. F. Giles Rom. Civiliz. i. 7 We have to realize that human nature, which is the stuff of history, is much the same in all ages. b. What a person is ‘made of’; one's capabilities or inward character. Also, solid qualities of intellect or character; capacity for achievement or endurance; the ‘makings’ of future excellence. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > ability > [noun] > for achievement or endurance stuff1557 stay1586 the mind > mental capacity > disposition or character > [noun] > qualities, stuff conditionsc1374 allaya1456 mettle?1520 stuff1557 alloy1594 wood1594 intrinsical1655 cast1711 calibre1808 timber1906 1557 R. Edgeworth Serm. very Fruitfull 305 b He is a proud man he swelleth in the flesh and is not ful, but as a thing blowen vp and readie to burst, and yet is there no sure and permanent stuffe within him. 1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 120 He is a proper man, but he is no descanter..there is no stuffe in him. a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iii. ii. 93 When that the poore haue cry'de, Cæsar hath wept: Ambition should be made of sterner stuffe . View more context for this quotation 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII i. i. 58 Surely Sir, There's in him stuffe, that put's him to these ends. View more context for this quotation 1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 636 Unapt to learn, and form'd of stubborn stuff, He yet by slow degrees puts off himself. 1792 R. Cumberland Calvary v. 304 Is thy frail memory of that slippery stuff That a friend's sorrow washes out all trace Of a friend's features? 1820 Ld. Byron tr. L. Pulci Morgante Maggiore xxiv For late there have appear'd three giants rough; What nation or what kingdom bore the batch I know not, but they are all of savage stuff. 1822 W. Hazlitt Table-talk II. ix. 212 There is stuff in him, and it is of the right practicable sort. 1853 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel III. x. xxiv. 217 Yet Frank Hazeldean has stuff in him—a good heart, and strict honour. 1858 N. Hawthorne French & Ital. Note-bks. I. 224 He was not naturally of the stuff that martyrs are made of. 1862 Baily's Monthly Mag. May 311 He [an oarsman] looks remarkably well, and is made of stuff to stand training. 1862 Baily's Monthly Mag. Dec. 313 There is some good bowling stuff in him [sc. a cricketer]. 1879 Times 14 June 12/1 The Marquis..has some of the stuff of a man in him, in spite of his self-indulgence and his follies. c. Predicatively, with epithet, of a person or a horse. Esp. in bit of stuff: now chiefly in slang use, with or without epithet, of a woman or girl. Cf. bit n.² 7, Phrases 2a(b)(iv). ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > pleasing appearance > [noun] > prettiness > specifically of woman > pretty girl or woman primerolea1350 jolyvet1413 prim1509 nicebeceturc1520 bit of stuff?1553 nicebice1595 dabchick1612 rosebud1668 doll1778 living doll1785 a bit (also bundle) of muslin1823 a bit (also piece) of all right1895 bit of fluff1903 dolly1906 baby doll1908 cutiea1911 cutie-pie1920 kewpie1946 tchotchke1968 tchotchkeleh1985 the mind > attention and judgement > fashionableness > [noun] > dandy popa1500 miniona1513 prick-me-daintya1529 puppy?1544 velvet-coat1549 skipjack1554 coxcomb1567 musk cat?1567 physbuttocke1570 Adonis?1571 Adon1590 foretop1597 musk-cod1600 pretty fellow1600 sparkc1600 spangle-baby1602 flash1605 barber-monger1608 cocoloch1610 dapperling1611 fantastica1613 feather-cock1612 trig1612 jack-a-dandy?1617 gimcrack1623 satinist1639 powder puffa1653 fop1676 prig1676 foplinga1681 cockcomb1684 beau garçona1687 shape1688 duke1699 nab1699 smirk1699 beau1700 petty master1706 moppet1707 Tom Astoner1707 dapper1709 petit maître1711 buck1725 toupee1727 toupet1728 toupet-man1748 jemmy1753 jessamy1753 macaroni1764 majoc1770 monkeyrony1773 dandyc1780 elegant1780 muscadin1794 incroyable1797 beauty man1800 bang-up1811 natty1818 ruffian1818 exquisite1819 heavy swell1819 marvellous1819 bit of stuff1828 merveilleux1830 fat1832 squirt1844 dandyling1846 ineffable1859 guinea pig1860 Dundreary swell1862 masher1872 dude1877 mash1879 dudette1883 dand1886 heavy gunner1890 posh1890 nut1904 smoothie1929 fancy-pants1930 saga boy1941 fancy Dan1943 the world > people > person > woman > [noun] wifeeOE womaneOE womanOE queanOE brideOE viragoc1000 to wifeOE burdc1225 ladyc1225 carlinec1375 stotc1386 marec1387 pigsneyc1390 fellowa1393 piecec1400 femalea1425 goddessa1450 fairc1450 womankindc1450 fellowessa1500 femininea1513 tega1529 sister?1532 minikinc1540 wyec1540 placket1547 pig's eye1553 hen?1555 ware1558 pussy?a1560 jade1560 feme1566 gentlewoman1567 mort1567 pinnacea1568 jug1569 rowen1575 tarleather1575 mumps1576 skirt1578 piga1586 rib?1590 puppy1592 smock1592 maness1594 sloy1596 Madonna1602 moll1604 periwinkle1604 Partlet1607 rib of man1609 womanship?1609 modicum1611 Gypsy1612 petticoata1616 runniona1616 birda1627 lucky1629 she-man1640 her1646 lost rib1647 uptails1671 cow1696 tittup1696 cummer17.. wife1702 she-woman1703 person1704 molly1706 fusby1707 goody1708 riding hood1718 birdie1720 faggot1722 piece of goods1727 woman body1771 she-male1776 biddy1785 bitch1785 covess1789 gin1790 pintail1792 buer1807 femme1814 bibi1816 Judy1819 a bit (also bundle) of muslin1823 wifie1823 craft1829 shickster?1834 heifer1835 mot1837 tit1837 Sitt1838 strap1842 hay-bag1851 bint1855 popsy1855 tart1864 woman's woman1868 to deliver the goods1870 chapess1871 Dona1874 girl1878 ladykind1878 mivvy1881 dudess1883 dudette1883 dudine1883 tid1888 totty1890 tootsy1895 floozy1899 dame1902 jane1906 Tom1906 frail1908 bit of stuff1909 quim1909 babe1911 broad1914 muff1914 manhole1916 number1919 rossie1922 bit1923 man's woman1928 scupper1935 split1935 rye mort1936 totsy1938 leg1939 skinny1941 Richard1950 potato1957 scow1960 wimmin1975 womyn1975 womxn1991 ?1553 Respublica (1952) i. iv. 13 Els will some of youe make, good hanging stuff one daie. 1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (at cited word) It is said of one, who will not yield in reasoning, or in fighting, ‘He is good stuff, or, a piece of good stuff’. 1828 Subaltern's Log Bk. II. 164 I entered the house in great spirits, fancying myself, to make use of a slang phrase, a very good bit of stuff. 1830 F. Marryat King's Own I. iv. 54 He is real stuff,—never winced. 1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia I. ii. vii. 133 Rudolf..proved an excellent bit of stuff for a Kaiser. 1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Market Harborough i ‘Capital bit of stuff,’ he repeats, dangling his feet out of the stirrups; ‘as game as a pebble, and as neat as a pink.’ 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vi. 175 He was as good a bit of stuff as ever was put together. 1909 in J. R. Ware Passing Eng. Victorian Era 31/1 He waited for a bit of stuff near the stage door of the Comedy Theatre. He was an elderly cove and he had great patience. 1971 B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 10 The infantry myth that one spent one's whole leave yanking it up some willing bit of stuff in a pub yard. d. Material for literary elaboration; the matter or substance of a work, as distinguished from the form. Now rare. †in stuff: as regards the matter or substance. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > topic, subject-matter > materials of topic > [noun] > as opposed to form matter1340 stuffc1450 substancec1475 subject matter1583 the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > topic, subject-matter > materials of topic > [adverb] in stuff1619 c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Augustine (1910) 60 Þis glorious doctour whom all cristen men ar bounde to do worchip, most specialy clerkys..þat haue grete stuf oute of his bokes to her lernyng. a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) ii. f. 52^v They busie not them selues with forme of buildyng: They do not declare, this stuffe is thus framed by Demosthenes, and thus and thus by Tullie. a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) v. i. 82 And for thy fiction, Why thy Verse swels with stuffe so fine and smooth, That thou art euen Naturall in thine Art. View more context for this quotation 1619 in S. R. Gardiner Lett. Relations Eng. & Germany (1865) 1st Ser. 192 The inclosed writing..being, as by perusall you will find, in stuffe the very same with that I had at Saltzburg. 1675 A. Marvell Let. 23 Oct. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 166 Hauing scarse stuffe enough for a Letter to the Bench I content my selfe.. with acquainting you [etc.]. 1684 Earl of Roscommon Ess. Translated Verse 4 Degrading Prose explains his meaning ill, And shews the Stuff, but not the Workman's skill. 1855 J. L. Motley Rise Dutch Republic II. iii. ix. 458 This great event [sc. the siege of Harlem] constituted..the principal stuff in Netherland history, up to the middle of the year 1573. e. In phrase that's the stuff (to give them, also to give the troops): expressing complete agreement with or approval of an act, sentiment, etc. ΚΠ 1896 W. A. White in Emporia (Kansas) Gaz. 15 Aug. That's the stuff! Give the prosperous man the dickens. 1919 Punch 16 Apr. 308/2 That's the stuff to give 'em. 1923 P. G. Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves xi. 116 Really? I say, heartiest congratulations. That's the stuff to give the troops, what? 1929 J. B. Priestley Good Compan. i. iv. 115 ‘I'd like a drop o' tea with some rum in it, good old sergeant-major's.’ ‘That's the stuff, mate,’ said Fred. 4. In various operative trades, applied spec. to the kind of material used in the trade. a. Carpentry and Joinery: Timber. clear stuff: timber free from imperfections; = free stuff n. at free adj., n., and adv. Compounds 2. quarter stuff: see quarter-stuff n. at quarter n. Compounds 4. thick stuff: see quot. 1711². ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [noun] treec890 woodc897 timbera1100 mattera1382 stuff1544 lignum1826 1544 P. Betham tr. J. di Porcia Preceptes Warre ii. lv. sig. L iv Bycause stuffe doth somtyme want to make suche [wooden] brydges. 1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. vi. Explan. Terms 113 The Wood that Joyners work upon they call in general Stuff. 1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant 48 Plank and thick Stuff for Ship-work. 1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant 165 Thick-stuff; all Plank (as it may be termed) which is thicker than 4 Inches. 1799 Hull Advertiser 15 June 2/2 Timber. For sale... A variety of stuff suitable for camp buildings. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 118 The shoulder [of the square] is pressed against the edge of a rectangular piece of stuff, and a line drawn close to the blade. 1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §83 The whole to be framed in a workmanlike manner, with the stuff (pieces of timber) sawed square of the several scantlings. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 130/1 Panel stuff should be treated in a similar manner. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 453/2 The timbers are usually of 12-inch stuff square-hewn or sawn. b. The material of which a beaver-hat is made. Cf. stuff hat n. at Compounds 3. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > treated or processed textiles > [noun] > material for making hats capade1797 stuff1799 chip straw1806 bat1836 napping1839 1799 Repertory of Arts 10 275 [Hat making.] The purpose of fulling being to form a dense compact stuff with hair. c. Paper-making. (See quots.) ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > material for making paper > [noun] > pulp pulp1727 stuff1745 paper pulp1839 wood-pulp1876 ground wood1885 mechanical wood pulp1887 straw pulp1888 soda pulp1893 sulphate pulp1907 1745 D. De Coetlogon Universal Hist. Arts & Sci. II. 796/2 In these Mortars, the Rags being beaten.., they take them out with little Iron hooped Pails... This makes what they call the first Stuff... After this, the Stuff is again put into clean Mortars. 1766 S. Clark Leadbetter's Royal Gauger (ed. 6) ii. xiv. 370 In these Mortars the Rags are beaten into what is called Half-stuff. 1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 208/2 The pulp, or stuff, as it is technically called, is now ready to be made into paper. 1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Stuff, paper-stock, ground ready for use. When half ground it is known as half-stuff. d. Mining. Material of rock, earth, or clay containing ore, metal, or precious stones. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > minerals > mineral sources > [noun] > material containing ore gangue1712 stuff1851 1851 S. Rutter Hints to Gold Hunters 12 The principal use of the washpan is in rewashing the partially washed stuff taken from the rocker. 1853 C. R. Read Austral. Gold Fields 15 Anxious, at all events, to have a look at the real stuff, I accompanied one down to see him wash out his tin dish. 1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 19 Fragments of a crimson-colored rock were found by the miners, intermixed with the gold~dust... This ‘red stuff,’ so called, bothered the honest diggers not a little, interfering with their operations much after the manner of the celebrated ‘blue stuff’—the rich sulphurets of silver. 1885 H. R. Haggard King Solomon's Mines xvi I pointed to a series of worn flat slabs of stone..‘if those are not tables once used to wash the “stuff”, I'm a Dutchman.’ 1887 J. A. Phillips Elem. Metall. (ed. 2) 185 The [iron] ore remains about ten minutes in the drum, or about 10 tons of stuff are washed per hour. 5. a. Material for making garments; woven material of any kind. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > woven webOE webOE wefta1398 stuff1462 tissue1565 weave1581 contexture1603 textile1626 texturea1656 woof1674 webbing1739 fabric1753 mail net1875 the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > woven > collectively webOE stuff1462 webstery1588 1462 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 150 Item, delyvaryd to Willyam off Wardrope ffor stoffe ffor my lordys doblett, xx.d. 1473 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 73 Veluous to purfel a govne to my Lady of blac satyne figory, of the Kingis awin stufe. 1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Rv The priest is clothed in chaungeable coloures. Whiche in workemanshyp be excellent, but in stuffe [L. materia] not verye pretious. a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. iii. 118 Gris. I gaue him the stuffe. Tail. But how did you desire it should be made? View more context for this quotation 1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 208 My selfe and my brother bought each of us a long coat of as course stuffe as we could find. 1713 G. Berkeley in Guardian 7 May 2/1 My Couches, Beds, and Window-Curtains are of Irish Stuff. 1801 J. Strutt Glig-gamena Angel-ðeod i. ii. 34 Certain quantities of stuff for the purpose of making ‘stalking coats, and stalking hose’. 1838 G. P. R. James Robber I. i. 12 A coarse sort of stuff used by the common people. b. In particularized sense: A kind of stuff; a textile fabric. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > [noun] workeOE draperya1300 cloth1377 toilec1440 ware1442 stuff1604 drape1665 fabric1753 kain1783 good1831 material1848 1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. xli. 320 The Indians make stuffs of this wooll wherewith they clothe themselves. 1625 in W. Foster Eng. Factories India 1624–9 (1909) 62 ‘Neccanies, semeanes, dimittes, stuffs, gumlack, blood~stones, and the rest’ will be sent as ordered. a1632 T. Middleton & J. Webster Any Thing for Quiet Life (1662) ii. sig. D But if you'd have a Petticoat for your Lady, here's a stuff. 1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 92 They make stuffes of the bark of a tree, to cover their nakednesse. 1749 T. Nugent Grand Tour II. 222 Leipsic has considerable manufactures of its own, as in stuffs. 1791 W. Hamilton tr. C.-L. Berthollet Elements Art of Dyeing I. Introd. 2 The stuffs..were immersed in vats, where they received various colours. 1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Leila i. iv. 28 The walls were covered with the stuffs of the East. 1857 J. Ruskin Polit. Econ. Art i. 10 Applying your labour rationally;..not..putting fine embroidery on a stuff that will not wear. figurative.a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. iii. 51 Youths a stuffe will not endure. View more context for this quotation c. spec. A woollen fabric (see quot. 1882). ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from wool > [noun] woollena1300 woola1400 mantling1561 lanifice1626 stuffa1648 woollen-work1866 a1648 [see Compounds 1]. 1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 264. ⁋1 He dresses himself according to the Season in Cloth or in Stuff. 1735 W. Pardon Dyche's New Gen. Eng. Dict. Stuff, in Weaving, is any Sort of Commodity made of Woollen Thread, &c. but in a particular Manner those thin light ones that Women make or line their Gowns of or with. 1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 465 Stuffs. This term..may be applied to any woven textile,..but it more especially denotes those of worsted, made of long or ‘combing wool’... Stuffs are distinguished from other woollen cloths by the absence of any nap or pile. 1896 C. K. Paul tr. J.-K. Huysman En Route ii. vii. 276 The Trappist is buried without a coffin, in his robe of stuff. d. As the material for the gown worn by a junior counsel. Hence rarely, A ‘stuff-gownsman’, i.e. a junior counsel, as distinguished from a ‘silk’ (see silk n. and adj. 3d).For some years c1900 ‘Silk and Stuff’ was the heading of the column devoted to bar news in the Pall Mall Gaz. ΘΚΠ society > law > legal profession > lawyer > [noun] > counsellor, barrister, or advocate > junior counsel devil1818 junior1837 stuff gownsman1852 stuff gown1867 stuff1889 the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric for specific purpose > [noun] > for clothing > for clothing for specific people shepherd's greyc1640 Negro cloth1653 parish blue1830 negro felt1847 nigger cloth1857 stuff1889 1889 A. Birrell Sir F. Lockwood v. 82 In 1882 Lockwood whilst still in stuff defended..with great success, a woman who [etc.]. 1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 12 Oct. 6/1 He was appointed to the bench when he was a ‘stuff’ merely on the ground of professional merit. III. Matter of an unspecified kind. 6. a. (a) The general designation for solid, liquid, or (rarely) gaseous matter of any kind: used indefinitely instead of the specific designation, or where no specific designation exists. Often applied to a preparation or composition used for some special purpose. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > existence > materiality > [noun] > matter or corporeal substance mattera1500 stuff1580 materiary1650 state of matter1665 1580–1 Act 23 Eliz. c. 9 Preamb. A certeyne kinde of Ware or Stuffe called Logwood. 1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 165 They..delight to have their boots and shoos shine with blacking stuffe. 1617 in J. Harland House & Farm Accts. Shuttleworths (1856) I. 223 For stuffe to kille myce at Gawthropp, ij^s. 1681 T. Langford Plain Instr. Fruit-trees xii. 108 Some thin stuff out of a House of Office..hath been often used with good success. 1714 T. Tyldesley Diary (1873) 150 Gave Mrs. 6d. to by stufe ffor her tyeth. 1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Stuff, any composition, or melted mass, used to smear or daub the masts, sides, or bottom of a ship. 1820 P. B. Shelley Œdipus Tyrannus ii. 34 I vote..that Purganax rub a little of that stuff Upon his face. 1882 W. Huggins in 19th Cent. Aug. 275 We have found that one part of the cometary stuff is in the condition of gas. 1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 819 The kidneys gradually finding greater and greater difficulty in getting out the toxic stuff. (b) Although the English word is not, like German stoff, used for ‘matter’ in the scientific sense (as opposed to ‘spirit’ or to ‘force’ or ‘energy’), it sometimes occurs in nonce-uses intended to illustrate the notion expressed by matter in this application. ΚΠ 1875 B. Stewart & P. G. Tait Unseen Universe iii. §93. 70 The conviction that there is something besides matter or stuff in the physical universe. b. Applied to medicine, esp. liquid mixtures. More definitely doctor's stuff (see doctor n. Compounds 3). Now only colloquial or with disparaging implication. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > [noun] medicine?c1225 pottingary1474 druggery1507 physicary?1577 stuffa1616 materia medica1663 muti1860 a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. vi. 255 I..did compound for her A certaine stuffe, which being tane, would cease The present powre of life. View more context for this quotation 1636 in Trans. Essex Archæol. Soc. (1863) 2 213 Paid Mr. Stammer for a glasse of stuff sent to the sick folkes, 1s. 0d. 1779 J. Warner in J. H. Jesse G. Selwyn & his Contemp. (1844) IV. 298 Your very kind letter..did me more good, I think, than any of my doctor's stuff. 1819 T. Moore Tom Crib's Memorial to Congress 17 Sandy tipp'd him a dose of that kind, that, when taken, It is n't the stuff, but the patient that's shaken. 1847 C. J. Lever Knight of Gwynne xvii The old doctor..tore a leaf out of his pocket-book to order me some stuff for the cough. c. Applied to articles of food or drink. good stuff, the stuff (colloquial): whisky.See also kitchen stuff n., sweet-stuff n. at sweet adj. and adv. Compounds 1a. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > [noun] > food and drink (a) bit (later bite) and (a) sup1546 stuff1600 ingesta1741 something1778 the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > whisky > [noun] usquebaugh1581 creature1638 corn-brandy1704 whisky1715 usque1728 spunkiea1796 skreigh1813 the stuff1828 snake poison1842 tanglefoot1860 whisky-straight1864 oil1869 Auld Kirk1884 snake juice1890 screech1902 scat1914 pinch bottle1916 screecham1923 juice1932 malt1967 1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 ii. iv. 61 Theres a whole marchants venture of Burdeux stuffe in him. View more context for this quotation 1678 in Jrnl. Friends' Hist. Soc. (1912) IX. 193 Who being gone from the fathers house where ther is Liueing bread enough, his owne Company are glad of his dry huskey stufe. 1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 57 Wretched gripe-gut Stuff. 1712 J. Arbuthnot John Bull Still in Senses vi. 23 My Friend Nic and I, not being used to such heady Stuff [champagne], got bloody Drunk. 1828 T. C. Croker Fairy Legends & Trad. S. Ireland II. 191 Dropping the glass, and it full of the stuff too, I bolted out of the door. 1843 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross I. iv. 62 A farmer and brewer, and making pretty good stuff; ‘Dobbs's Ale’. 1861 G. Meredith Evan Harrington I. xi. 194 The guests had arrived at that stage when to reach the arm, or arrange the person, for a sip of good stuff, causes moral debates. 1886 D. C. Murray Aunt Rachel II. i. 12 Tek a shillin' and get a drop o' good stuff wi' it, an' warm up that old gizzard o' thine. 1895 B. Stoker Watter's Mou' i. 5 Despite of all vigilance, a considerable amount of ‘stuff’ finds its way to the consumers without the formality of the Custom House. 1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad lxii. 92 Ale, man, ale's the stuff to drink For fellows whom it hurts to think. d. In certain operative trades, applied spec. to some particular composition or preparation used in the work. (a) Plastering. (See quot. 1812¹.) (b) Baking. (See quot. 1820.) (c) Leather Manufacturing (See quot. 1875): = stuffing n. red stuff (see red adj. and n. Compounds 1f(c)). Also touching stuff n. at touching n. Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > substances for food preparation > [noun] > improver or adulterant doctor1770 stuff1812 improver1835 rough1855 agene1921 society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > plaster > [noun] > other kinds of plaster lime-slab1608 roughcast1609 lime and hair1626 parge1649 chunam1687 impastation1728 stuff1812 mastic paint1839 parget1842 Parian cement1858 Madras stucco1859 Keene's cement1869 gatch1886 Parian1886 society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > leather > leather-making materials > [noun] > other leather-making materials sabrasc1480 stuff1812 pure1842 bran-drench1883 moellon1897 sig1897 plumper1903 (a) 1812 P. Nicholson Mech. Exercises 307 Fine Stuff is made of lime slacked and sifted through a fine sieve, and mixed with a due quantity of hair, and sometimes a small quantity of fine sand. Fine stuff is used in common ceilings and walls, set for paper or colour. 1812 P. Nicholson Mech. Exercises 309 Lime and Hair, is a mixture of lime and hair used in first coating and floating. It is otherwise denominated coarse stuff. (b)1820 Blackwood's Mag. 3 546 Other individuals furnish the baker with alum mixed up with salt, under the obscure denomination of stuff.1843 J. Pereira Treat. Food & Diet 311 Notwithstanding that the law prohibits, under a penalty, the use of alum by bakers, it is very frequently employed under the name of ‘stuff’.(c)1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Stuff (Leather) a composition of fish-oil and tallow for filling the pores of leather. Dubbing.1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather (ed. 2) xv. 216 It must always be remembered that stale goods will not carry the stuff as well as fresh ones. e. Cultivated produce of a garden or farm; natural produce of land. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > crop or crops > [noun] wastumc888 tiltha1100 estrea1300 madder-cropc1300 gainage1390 cropa1400 yieldingc1405 emblement1495 burden?1523 increase1535 field-ware1546 gather1555 esplees1598 husbandrya1616 glebe1660 warea1661 récolte1669 tilling1680 tillage1681 stuffa1687 growing1722 bearing1747 raccolta1748 the crops1789 plant1832 raising1857 cropping1861 a1687 W. Petty Polit. Arithm. (1691) vi. 96 The..meliorating, and multiplying several sorts of Fruits, and Garden-Stuff. 1813 T. Rudge Gen. View Agric. Glouc. 246 In some coppices, the small stuff, called drift-wood, is sold..as high as 5s. the square perch. 1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial. ‘There's a vast o' stuff on t' land, surely’; growth or produce. 1896 P. A. Graham Red Scaur iii. 34 His judgment of live-stock was infallible, and he seldom let any real good stuff go past. 1901 J. H. Harris Luck of Wheal Veor xi. 162 The ducks, chickens, and goslings, and all the young stuff shaping ‘keenly’ for future sale. f. In commercial and industrial use, often applied spec. to the particular commodity dealt in or produced. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > merchandise > [noun] warec1000 warec1000 cheapingc1200 chaffer1297 gooda1300 merchandisec1300 harnessc1386 pennyworths1403 haberdashery1419 merchandya1425 mercimonyc1460 merchantyc1485 merchandrise?1495 haberdasha1529 traffic1533 chaffery1535 trade1645 Manchester goods1705 stuff1708 sundries1740 business model1832 Manchester1920 tradables1921 durable1930 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 2 in T. Nourse Mistery of Husbandry Discover'd (ed. 3) By sight of the Stuff taken out of the Wimble, or Scoop, you plainly discover of what Kind it is. 1881 Good Words 22 843/2 The iron rope..which..brought up the tub..with the ‘stuff’ as it was dug out. 1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 245 Stuff, coals and slack, the produce of the mine. 1912 World 7 May 700/1 Most of the nitrate companies..are making a better showing in their reports. At anything over 7s. 3d. per quintal the stuff pays handsomely. 1913 Standard 14 July 3/1 British steel is affected by the cheap offers of foreign stuff. g. Narcotics, ‘dope’. on the stuff, addicted to drugs, on drugs. slang (originally U.S.). ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > drug addiction or craving > [adjective] addicted1612 narcomaniacal1889 on the stuff1929 junkie1930 on the needle1955 yenny1975 junked out1982 the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun] > a) narcotic drug(s) opiate?a1425 dope1886 hop1887 Peter1899 quill1916 junk1921 narcotic1926 stuff1929 mojo1935 sugar1935 gear1954 narco1954 sauce1975 opie1992 Scooby Snack1996 1929 Amer. Speech 4 345 Stuff, dope. 1934 Detective Fiction Weekly 21 Apr. 113/2 The addict who shoots stuff into the veins is said to be a gutter, or mainliner. 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 84/1 On the stuff, addicted to dope. 1952 Sunday Times 3 Feb. 5/4 There has lately been a lot of research into the sale of narcotics (or ‘junk’ or ‘stuff’) and their effects on addicts. 1959 ‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene 292 Jive talk..contains all the fancy-dress devices of private languages..the never-ending substitution of new passwords into the group for new codes..the use of neutral and general words for highly specific things (e.g. on the stuff, or simply on for drug addiction). 1965 New Statesman 20 Aug. 248/3 Addicts have a secret language, which changes like a code. The commonest current name for heroin is ‘stuff’. 1973 L. Hellman Pentimento 290 ‘His room-mate's on the stuff.’ This then new way of saying dope..was no surprise. Years before she had told me her son was on the stuff. 1976 H. Ferguson Confessions Long Distance Acid Head 65 ‘Yes. You were the bloke who got done for someone else's stuff..weren't you?’ It was a junkie whom I had met in Ashford. 7. transferred and figurative in non-physical senses. a. Literary or artistic matter; compositions, productions. Now rare except with disparaging implication (cf. 8), and colloquial among journalists and professional authors = ‘copy’. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > [noun] writing1340 scripturea1382 scripturea1382 scrowsa1513 stuff1542 the republic of letters1677 belles-lettres1710 literature1711 the Muses1838 lit.1850 letters1916 1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 12 Whiche booke perused, Euripides asked, what he thought of it. By Iuppiter (saied Socrates) that, that I haue been hable to vnderstand me thynketh to be ioyly good stuffe. 1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 70 He pretendeth as thoughe he neuer saw Dioscorides of whom he hath conueyed so much learned stuf in his omnigatherum. a1586 Sir P. Sidney Astrophel & Stella lvi But now that I, alas, doe want her sight, What, dost thou thinke that I can euer take In thy cold stuffe a flegmatike delight? 1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) ii. 124 I saw vpon the wall some old painting,..pittifull stuff. 1693 J. Dryden tr. Persius Satires Prol. 2 To decry the Poetry then in Fashion; and the Impudence of those, who were endeavouring to pass their Stuff upon the World. 1711 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 3 Oct. (1948) II. 375 I..then went in to the musick-meeting..; but was weary in half an hour of their fine stuff, and stole out so privately that every body saw me. 1883 F. M. Crawford Dr. Claudius i He had been reading serious stuff. 1898 Scribner's Mag. May 580 Some of the younger crowd could tell which was Linton's stuff, and what kind of a story he was best at. 1915 Daily News 24 Apr. 4 This does not mean that they had finished writing their ‘stuff’ (to use an expressive technical phrase) for the daily papers. †b. Matter of thought. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > thought > product of thinking, thought > matter of thought > [noun] object?a1425 stuff1604 thought-object1838 thinkable1852 thoughtstuff1871 1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet ii. ii. 313 Ham... Man delights not me, nor women neither, though by your smilling, you seeme to say so. Ros. My Lord, there was no such stuffe in my thoughts. View more context for this quotation c. Applied to a person: chiefly with qualifying word. See also hot stuff n. and adj. ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > [noun] hadc900 lifesmaneOE maneOE world-maneOE ghostOE wyeOE lifeOE son of manOE wightc1175 soulc1180 earthmanc1225 foodc1225 person?c1225 creaturec1300 bodyc1325 beera1382 poppetc1390 flippera1400 wat1399 corsec1400 mortal?a1425 deadly?c1450 hec1450 personagec1485 wretcha1500 human1509 mundane1509 member1525 worma1556 homo1561 piece of flesh1567 sconce1567 squirrel?1567 fellow creature1572 Adamite1581 bloat herringa1586 earthling1593 mother's child1594 stuff1598 a piece of flesh1600 wagtail1607 bosom1608 fragment1609 boots1623 tick1631 worthy1649 earthlies1651 snap1653 pippin1665 being1666 personal1678 personality1678 sooterkin1680 party1686 worldling1687 human being1694 water-wagtail1694 noddle1705 human subject1712 piece of work1713 somebody1724 terrestrial1726 anybody1733 individual1742 character1773 cuss1775 jig1781 thingy1787 bod1788 curse1790 his nabs1790 article1796 Earthite1814 critter1815 potato1815 personeityc1816 nibs1821 somebody1826 tellurian1828 case1832 tangata1840 prawn1845 nigger1848 nut1856 Snooks1860 mug1865 outfit1867 to deliver the goods1870 hairpin1879 baby1880 possum1894 hot tamale1895 babe1900 jobbie1902 virile1903 cup of tea1908 skin1914 pisser1918 number1919 job1927 apple1928 mush1936 face1944 jong1956 naked ape1965 oke1970 punter1975 1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. iii. 274 King. No Diuel will fright thee then so much as shee. Duma. I neuer knew man holde vile stuffe so deare. View more context for this quotation 1607 T. Middleton Michaelmas Terme iii. sig. E4 How now? what peece of stuffe comes heere? a1627 T. Middleton Witch (1945) iv. ii. 1580 She goes here by the name on's Wife: good stuff. a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) 250 He was so besotted..upon that now broken stuffe, and Crone in yeares, the cast beauty of that woman [Cleopatra]. d. Fighting material. colloquial. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > [noun] gearc1275 armourc1300 armsc1325 armingc1330 ordnancea1393 armourer?c1400 artilleryc1405 habiliments1422 artry1447 armaturea1460 apparamenta1464 atour1480 munitionc1515 furnishments1559 furniture1569 equipage1579 ammunition?1588 magazine1588 victuals1653 war1667 armament1668 contraband1753 stuff1883 1883 Manch. Examiner 24 Nov. 5/1 The army of Ibrahim included a good deal of tougher stuff than the ordinary fellah of Egypt. 1894 Outing Sept. 445/1 Good! that big stuff can't box a little bit. e. to do one's stuff: to do what is required or expected of one; to perform one's role. colloquial.Quot. 1663 may belong to another sense. ΘΚΠ society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > do one's duty [verb (intransitive)] performc1300 fand1488 to do one's do1650 to do one's stuff1663 the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > be occupied or busy (in or at something) [verb (intransitive)] > be involved in or have to do with something > play one's part to play one's prize1565 to do one's stuff1663 to pull one's weight1878 to stand one's corner1878 1663 G. Fox Jrnl. (1694) I. 266 A while after, when the priest had done his stuff, they came to the friends again. 1922 Radio News (U.S.) IV. 854/1 (caption) Take a look at S. M. Brown, Chief on the Mauretania, ‘doing his stuff’ in the saloon.1930 T. E. Lawrence Lett. (1938) 677 That portable was good at Miranshah. I hope yours is doing its stuff.1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 19 Apr. 29/4 Australia will be represented in this event by Alan Bruce, who has been doing his stuff in London.1946 F. Sargeson That Summer 144 If you knew how to do your stuff you never could tell but what it mightn't end up in a date.1959 Listener 24 Dec. 1108/2 The anti-aircraft did its stuff.1967 G. F. Fiennes I tried to run Railway vi. 70 I go when I can for the fun of hearing Richard doing his stuff.1972 P. G. Wodehouse Pearls, Girls, & Monty Bodkin ii. 27 The Bishop and assistant clergy and the bridesmaids shall be encouraged to line up and do their stuff.1976 Daily Times (Lagos) 27 Aug. 30/2 Ghana's Johnny Francois and a few others did their stuff abroad and, gradually, the panel took root. f. that's the stuff (to give them or to give the troops): that is what is particularly appropriate to the situation, that is what is required. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > suitable or appropriate [phrase] > exactly like a tansy1619 bang up1819 that's the stuff (to give them or to give the troops)1923 1923 ‘Bartimeus’ Seaways vii. 98 George Grayson and his Flock of Fascinating Flappers presents a screaming farce: The Giddy Governess! That's the stuff to give the troops! 1927 Daily Express 13 Oct. 12 That, if one may be pardoned the colloquialism, was the stuff to give them. 1942 H. C. Bailey Dead Man's Shoes xiv. 63 ‘A new married man with a lovely wife spends half the night with a police inspector he meets by chance! That's not the stuff to give the troops.’.. ‘No, it don't sound natural.’ 1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Sat. vii. 46 ‘We're always glad to have suggestions from anybody.’ ‘That's the stuff,’ said Mr. Ogmore. 1977 P. D. James Death of Expert Witness ii. i. 53 Inspector Blakelock..was always ready for his tea... ‘That's the stuff to give the troops,’ he would invariably say. g. to know one's stuff : to be experienced or knowledgeable in one's subject, profession, etc. colloquial. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > be versed or skilled [verb (intransitive)] to have the way (also ways)?1520 to know what something is1535 practise1542 skilla1586 to be one's craftsmaster1594 to know the ropes1802 to know one's way around1861 to know (something) backwards1904 to know one's stuff1927 1927 Amer. Speech 2 277 Know your onions or know your stuff, have grasp of your subjects. 1935 Swing Music June 111/1 The Little Man of the Rhythm Clubs did himself proud in this test paper. He knows his stuff. 1938 G. Greene Brighton Rock iii. i. 108 ‘This doctor,’ she says, ‘he knows his stuff?’ 1945 R. A. Knox God & Atom x. 132 All I have written could have been written very much better by someone who, in an expressive modern phrase, knew his stuff. 1952 J. Steinbeck East of Eden xxxiii. 46 It's a lulu. Kate sure knows her stuff. 1967 J. M. Argyle Psychol. Interpersonal Behaviour ix. 166 His [sc. the supervisor's] influence will be accepted more readily if it is believed that he really knows his stuff. 1973 A. Christie Postern of Fate iii. vii. 174 ‘He gave me a lot of knowledge about planting things.’ ‘Yes, he knew his stuff, as you might say.’ 8. What is worthless; rubbish. (Originally a contextual use of sense 7, with disparaging epithet or other indication of aversion.) a. gen. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > worthless hawc1000 turdc1275 fille1297 dusta1300 lead1303 skitc1330 naught1340 vanityc1340 wrakea1350 rushc1350 dirt1357 fly's wing1377 goose-wing1377 fartc1390 chaff?a1400 nutshella1400 shalec1400 yardc1400 wrack1472 pelfrya1529 trasha1529 dreg1531 trish-trash1542 alchemy1547 beggary?1548 rubbish1548 pelfa1555 chip1556 stark naught1562 paltry?1566 rubbish1566 riff-raff1570 bran1574 baggage1579 nihil1579 trush-trash1582 stubblea1591 tartar1590 garbage1592 bag of winda1599 a cracked or slit groat1600 kitchen stuff1600 tilta1603 nothing?1608 bauble1609 countera1616 a pair of Yorkshire sleeves in a goldsmith's shop1620 buttermilk1630 dross1632 paltrement1641 cattle1643 bagatelle1647 nothingness1652 brimborion1653 stuff1670 flap-dragon1700 mud1706 caput mortuuma1711 snuff1778 twaddle1786 powder-post1790 traffic1828 junk1836 duffer1852 shice1859 punk1869 hogwash1870 cagmag1875 shit1890 tosh1892 tripe1895 dreck1905 schlock1906 cannon fodder1917 shite1928 skunk1929 crut1937 chickenshit1938 crud1943 Mickey Mouse1958 gick1959 garbo1978 turd1978 pants1994 1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) ii. 404 Here also they haue euery night in sommer, a world of Montibancks, ciarlatani, and such stuff. 1707 M. Henry Expos. Five Bks. Moses (Gen. xlv. 20) sig. U3/2 What they had in Canaan he reckon'd but stuff..the best of its [the world's] Enjoyments are but stuff, but lumber. 1720 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1906) VII. 120 Dr. Charlett..went over..to get some MSS. (I am told, very sorry ones) for the Publ. Library... The Persons that told me observ'd that a Library may soon be filled with such stuff. 1810 Sporting Mag. 36 187 A red curtain, a Grecian couch, or some such fashionable stuff. 1883 Daily News 14 Feb. 5/7 The brass dishes are poor stuff. b. Worthless ideas, discourse, or writing; nonsense, rubbish. Often coupled with nonsense (chiefly stuff and nonsense, †nonsense and stuff). Frequently in interjectional use. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > [noun] magged talea1387 moonshine1468 trumperyc1485 foolishness1531 trash1542 baggage1545 flim-flam1570 gear1570 rubbisha1576 fiddle-faddle1577 stuff1579 fible-fable1581 balductum1593 pill1608 nonsense1612 skimble-skamble1619 porridge1642 mataeology1656 fiddle-come-faddle1663 apple sauce1672 balderdash1674 flummery1749 slang1762 all my eye1763 diddle-daddle1778 (all) my eye (and) Betty Martin1781 twaddle1782 blancmange1790 fudge1791 twiddle-twaddle1798 bothering1803 fee-faw-fum1811 slip-slop1811 nash-gab1816 flitter-tripe1822 effutiation1823 bladderdash1826 ráiméis1828 fiddlededee1843 pickles1846 rot1846 kelter1847 bosh1850 flummadiddle1850 poppycock1852 Barnum1856 fribble-frabble1859 kibosh1860 skittle1864 cod1866 Collyweston1867 punk1869 slush1869 stupidness1873 bilge-water1878 flapdoodle1878 tommyrot1880 ruck1882 piffle1884 flamdoodle1888 razzmatazz1888 balls1889 pop1890 narrischkeit1892 tosh1892 footle1894 tripe1895 crap1898 bunk1900 junk1906 quatsch1907 bilge1908 B.S.1912 bellywash1913 jazz1913 wash1913 bullshit?1915 kid-stakes1916 hokum1917 bollock1919 bullsh1919 bushwa1920 noise1920 bish-bosh1922 malarkey1923 posh1923 hooey1924 shit1924 heifer dust1927 madam1927 baloney1928 horse feathers1928 phonus-bolonus1929 rhubarb1929 spinach1929 toffeea1930 tomtit1930 hockey1931 phoney baloney1933 moody1934 cockalorum1936 cock1937 mess1937 waffle1937 berley1941 bull dust1943 crud1943 globaloney1943 hubba-hubba1944 pish1944 phooey1946 asswipe1947 chickenshit1947 slag1948 batshit1950 goop1950 slop1952 cack1954 doo-doo1954 cobbler1955 horse shit1955 nyamps1955 pony1956 horse manure1957 waffling1958 bird shit1959 codswallop1959 how's your father1959 dog shit1963 cods1965 shmegegge1968 pucky1970 taradiddle1970 mouthwash1971 wank1974 gobshite1977 mince1985 toss1990 arse1993 the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > nonsense! [interjection] strawc1412 tilly-vallya1529 flam-flirt1590 fiddlestick1600 fiddle-faddle1671 stuff1701 snuff1725 fudge1766 fiddlededeea1784 rats1816 havers1825 humbug1825 gammon1827 rubbish1839 pickles1846 rot1846 skittle1864 slush1869 flapdoodle1878 quatsch1907 phooey1908 tommyrot1931 balls1938 no shit1939 bollocks1940 phonus-bolonus1955 hockey1961 leave it out!1969 1579 S. Gosson Apol. Schoole of Abuse in Ephemerides Phialo f. 83^v Iuno crieth out in Seneca,..Lets dwel in earth, for heauen is full of whores. What stuffe is this? wantons in heauen? 1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. iii. 161 At this fustie stuffe, The large Achilles..laughes out a lowd applause. View more context for this quotation 1698 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. IV. 415 Would not this be mere Stuff, wretched Trifling,..and as much to the Purpose as if he had said just Nothing? 1701 G. Farquhar Sir Harry Wildair iv. ii. 33 Golden Pleasures! Golden Fiddlesticks.—What d'ye tell me of your canting Stuff? 1701 G. Farquhar Sir Harry Wildair iv. ii. 33 Stuff! stuff! stuff!—I won't believe a Word on't. 1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones III. vii. vi. 39 Pooh, all Stuff and Nonsense. I tell thee, she shall ha' thee To-morrow. View more context for this quotation 1770 S. Foote Lame Lover i. 4 Pshaw! nonsense and stuff.—The eye! 1778 S. Johnson in J. Boswell Life Johnson (1904) II. 185 It is sad stuff, Sir, miserably written, as books in general then were. 1833 S. T. Coleridge Table-talk 28 Aug. Your art diplomatic is stuff:—no truly great man would negociate now upon any such shallow principles. 1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 175/2 It's all stuff and nonsense, all this talk about dust-yards being unhealthy. 1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond I. vi. 121 ‘Stuff! we must see Lady Castlewood,’ says the lawyer pushing by. 1860 C. M. Yonge Hopes & Fears I. 181 ‘Only because I am not come out.’ ‘Stuff about coming out! I don't like my girls to be shy and backward.’ 1887 T. E. Brown Lett. (1900) I. 125 Poor G. Sand! I am reading her Amours de l'Âge d'Or. Woe is me! what awful stuff! 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer xxiv ‘Stuff!’ said Miss Augusta. †c. Indecent matter. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > moral or spiritual impurity > indecency > [noun] > that which is indecent > indecent matter unselea1400 stuff1749 filth1872 1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xii. v. 226 A grave Matron told the Master [of a puppet-show] she would bring her two Daughters the next Night, as he did not show any Stuff . View more context for this quotation d. phr. —— and stuff, and suchlike useless or uninteresting matters. colloquial. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > collect furnishingsa1616 and stuff?1697 ?1697 J. Lewis Mem. Duke of Glocester (1789) 66 She turned to me and said, ‘Lewis, I find you pretend to give the Duke notions of the mathematics, and stuff.’ 1729 J. Swift Grand Quest. 159 Your Noveds, and Blutraks, and Omurs and Stuff, By G——, they don't signify this Pinch of Snuff. 1774 O. Goldsmith Retaliation 16 When they talk'd of their Raphaels, Corregios and stuff. 1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond III. iv. 110 And as for you, you want a woman..to sit at your feet, and cry ‘O caro! O bravo!’ whilst you read your Shakspeares, and Miltons, and stuff. e. gen. Used loosely to denote any collection of things about which one is not able or willing to particularize (a weakened application of senses 6, 7); material, matter, business. colloquial. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > [noun] > state of being non-specific > unspecified thing(s) no mannera1393 whatever?1808 stuff1922 shit1934 1922 [see sense 7e]. 1949 ‘G. Orwell’ Nineteen Eighty-four ii. ii. 123 You thought I was a good Party member. Pure in word and deed. Banners, processions, slogans, games, community hikes—all that stuff. 1967 R. Brautigan Trout Fishing in Amer. (1970) 83 One spring day she had me ascend to the attic and clean up some boxes of stuff and throw out some stuff and put some stuff back into its imaginary proper place. 1977 J. D. MacDonald Condominium xxxvii. 370 Once they left we were going to move his stuff out and change the locks. f. Hence, with preceding epithet. ΚΠ 1929 F. D. Brooks Psychol. Adolescence xviii. 605 The little fellow looked at the book a minute,..and in a very caustic, critical manner sneered, ‘Kid stuff.’ 1932 S. Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm xiii. 191 She had best not pull any Cinderella stuff on me. 1939 Punch 5 July 9/1 ‘Sam,’ they said to him, ‘what's wrong? You can bowl much better stuff than that.’ 1948 Sporting Mirror 21 May 7/3 Jack Martin may also be available for fast stuff on occasions. 1974 Times Lit. Suppl. 26 Apr. 440/3 The principal message [of Hochhuth's comedy Lysistrate und die NATO] is largely straightforward feminist stuff. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 9 Oct. 2/4 The threat of another oil embargo is always serious stuff here. 1978 D. Williams Treasure up in Smoke xiii. 120 What he said was pretty strong stuff... He fairly laid into Mr. O'Hara. 9. a. U.S. (See quot. 1787) Cf. stuffy adj. 4. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill humour > [noun] melancholya1393 morosity1534 distemperature1571 distemperance1574 diverseness1574 sullennessa1586 spleen1596 distemper1604 mustinessa1625 canker?1635 distemperedness1649 moroseness1653 tetricalness1653 moodiness1694 dishumour1712 ill humour1748 sulkiness1760 stuff1787 funk1808 sumphishness1830 spleenishness1847 moodishness1857 grouchiness1925 1787 J. Q. Adams Diary 29 Nov. in Life New Eng. Town (1903) 66 She..has rather too much temper, or as it is called in New-England, too much stuff. b. North American. In various sports, the spin or ‘work’ imparted to a ball in order to make it vary its course; the type of control which effects this. Also figurative. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > [noun] > motion of ball twist1857 rebound1894 top1901 overspin1904 stuff1905 undercut1920 top-twist- 1905 Sporting Life (Philadelphia) 9 Sept. 1/1 If I tried some of the stuff that certain pitchers use and escape bumping, I have an idea that the fielders would never stop..hitting. 1913 Harper's Weekly 13 Sept. 21/2 Weilman, the giant Brown, is another [pitcher] who has the ‘stuff’. 1927 Daily Tel. 21 Feb. 13/6 T. A. Workman, their captain, was in wonderfully good form against Commander S. W. Beadle, finding an almost perfect length for an American service which had plenty of ‘stuff’ on it. Beadle could not do anything with it, and was kept on the defensive throughout. 1936 J. T. Farrell World I Never Made v. 68 The O'Neills are proud of their name, and they got as much stuff on the ball in the game of life as old Three-fingered Brown has when he toes the mound. 1947 Sun (Baltimore) 3 Apr. 20/1 He is only 20 years old, has a good arm and has much of the well known stuff on the ball. 1967 Varner & Harrison Table Tennis v. 51 These spinners are often one-ball hitters: they vary their ‘stuff’ until you yield a loose return, which they efficiently kill. 1970 J. H. Gray Boy from Winnipeg 152 That got us seats behind home plate where we could watch the stuff, mainly curves, that the pitchers were putting on the ball. 1981 Washington Star 30 Apr. c 4/1 ‘I really had good stuff tonight,’ the lefthander said in a post-game radio interview. ‘My slider wasn't great at the beginning, but my fastball really was good.’ 10. slang. a. Money, cash. Chiefly with article the stuff. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > money > [noun] silverc825 feec870 pennieseOE wortheOE mintOE scata1122 spense?c1225 spendinga1290 sumc1300 gooda1325 moneya1325 cattlec1330 muckc1330 reasona1382 pecunyc1400 gilt1497 argentc1500 gelta1529 Mammon1539 ale silver1541 scruff1559 the sinews of war1560 sterling1565 lour1567 will-do-all1583 shell1591 trasha1592 quinyie1596 brass1597 pecuniary1604 dust1607 nomisma1614 countera1616 cross and pilea1625 gingerbreada1625 rhinoa1628 cash1646 grig1657 spanker1663 cole1673 goree1699 mopus1699 quid1699 ribbin1699 bustle1763 necessary1772 stuff1775 needfula1777 iron1785 (the) Spanish1788 pecuniar1793 kelter1807 dibs1812 steven1812 pewter1814 brad1819 pogue1819 rent1823 stumpy1828 posh1830 L. S. D.1835 rivetc1835 tin1836 mint sauce1839 nobbins1846 ochre1846 dingbat1848 dough1848 cheese1850 California1851 mali1851 ducat1853 pay dirt1853 boodle?1856 dinero1856 scad1856 the shiny1856 spondulicks1857 rust1858 soap1860 sugar1862 coin1874 filthy1876 wampum1876 ooftish1877 shekel1883 oil1885 oof1885 mon1888 Jack1890 sploshc1890 bees and honey1892 spending-brass1896 stiff1897 mazuma1900 mazoom1901 cabbage1903 lettuce1903 Oscar Asche1905 jingle1906 doubloons1908 kale1912 scratch1914 green1917 oscar1917 snow1925 poke1926 oodle1930 potatos1931 bread1935 moolah1936 acker1939 moo1941 lolly1943 loot1943 poppy1943 mazoola1944 dosh1953 bickies1966 lovely jubbly1990 scrilla1994 1775 R. B. Sheridan Rivals i. i But has she got the stuff, Mr. Fag; is she rich, hey? 1787 Minor 198 He made me an offer of some stuff—for such, you may recollect, is the epithet bestowed by all great philosophers on gold. 1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang (at cited word) ‘Hand over the stuff,’ give the money. 1896 J. F. B. Lillard Poker Stories 50 Those were the days, my boy—..every sport with stuff in his pockets and lots of good clothes. b. Stolen goods. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > stolen goods > [noun] theft962 bribec1425 stoutheriec1440 booty1567 thievery1583 snapping1591 filcha1627 pilferagec1626 swag1794 stealing1839 stuff1865 score1914 hot stuff1924 1865 Daily Tel. 3 Nov. 5/1 This particular parcel of ‘stuff’ was arrested, however, in mid course. 1894 Daily News 16 Oct. 2/5 Fitzpatrick at once confessed to complicity in the robbery, and said he would tell where ‘the stuff’ was. c. Forbidden goods smuggled into a jail. ΘΚΠ society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > goods smuggled into prison stuff1904 1904 A. Griffiths Fifty Years Public Service xi. 154 We had news constantly of ‘stuff’ planted for cash in exchange. 11. not to give a stuff, etc. = not to give a fuck at fuck n. Phrases 1. Cf. stuff v.¹ 15. Chiefly Australian and New Zealand slang. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > indifference > [verb (intransitive)] to put in no chaloir1477 not to care1490 to let the world wag (as it will)c1525 not to care a chip1556 to hang loose (to)1591 (to bid, care, give) a fig, or fig's end for1632 not to careor matter a farthing1647 not to care a doit1660 (not) to care twopencea1744 not to give a curse (also damn)1763 not to care a dump1821 not to care beans1833 not to care a darn1840 not to give a darn1840 not to care a straw (two, three straws)1861 not to care (also give) a whoop1867 (to care) not a fouter1871 not to care (or give) a toss1876 not to give (also care) a fuck1879 je m'en fiche1889 not to care a dit(e)1907 je m'en fous1918 not to give a shit1918 to pay no nevermind1946 not to give a sod1949 not to give (also care) a monkey's (fuck)1960 not to give a stuff1974 1974 Bookseller 19 Jan. 117/3 A word or two of criticism: I don't give a stuff for your great managing director. 1976 Sea Spray (N.Z.) Dec. 62/1 Well, deep down inside I don't really give a stuff. 1977 Bulletin (Sydney) 22 Jan. 100/3 The list goes on and on and on and as it grows so does the feeling amongst the blokes in the bush that no one gives a stuff. 1979 N. Gordimer Burger's Daughter i. 42 In the end no one cares a stuff who's in jail or what war's on, so long as it's far away. 1980 B. Mason Solo 207 I don't give a stuff if it was or not. That spoke to me. Opened up my life, things I'd forgotten. Compounds C1. attributive passing into adjective: Made of stuff or woollen cloth (see sense 5c). ΚΠ a1648 Ld. Herbert Life (1976) 80 A..Person came to mee apparelld in a Black stuffe Suite. 1702 Post Man 17– 19 Sept. 2/2 Sad coloured stuff Coat, and black Hat. 1718 Free-thinker No. 13. 2 Were she to be reduced to a Stuff Gown to Morrow, [she] could part with all her Jewels and Brocades without a Sigh. 1730 Inventory R. Woolley's Goods (1732) 11 3 Chairs with Stuff Seats. 1839 T. B. Macaulay Gladstone in Ess. (1865) II. 65 To tell a barrister..that he shall grow old in his stuff gown, while his pupils are seated above him in ermine. 1842 R. H. Barham Black Mousquetaire in Ingoldsby Legends 2nd Ser. 14 The fusty stuff gown of a Sœur de la Charité. 1856 N. Brit. Rev. 26 248 He led the Northern Circuit in a stuff gown, many silks being obliged to keep their talents in abeyance. 1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. ii. 34 The field thronged with country folk, the men in clean white smocks.., and the women..in new-fashioned stuff shawls. 1897 E. L. Voynich Gadfly i. iii An old stuff frock that was too short for her. C2. Simple attributive. a. stuff goods n. ΚΠ 1816 Acts 14th Congr. U.S. Sess. 1. c. 107 §1 Blankets, woollen rugs and worsted or stuff goods. stuff-manufacture n. ΚΠ 1730 Lett. to Sir W. Strickland 11 The Callicoe-Act..made on purpose to encourage our Stuff-Manufacture. stuff mercer n. ΚΠ 1723 London Gaz. No. 6139/3 John Harrison and Richard Harrison,..Stuff-Mercers. stuff trade n. ΚΠ 1884 Manch. Examiner 12 Nov. 5/3 It was proclaimed..that the stuff trade had gone to the dogs altogether. b. stuff-finisher n. ΚΠ 1861 Internat. Exhib. 1862, Alph. Lists Trades 39 Stuff Finishers. stuff-maker n. ΚΠ 1780 Indenture Clifton, Notts Bennet Thorpe, stuffmaker. stuff-manufacturer n. ΚΠ 1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Stuff-manufacturer, a maker of thin woollen cloth. stuff-seller n. ΚΠ 1711 London Gaz. No. 4801/4 William Paine,..Stuff-seller. stuff-weaver n. ΚΠ 1706 London Gaz. No. 4246/8 William Madlow,..a Stuff-Weaver. 1832 B. Thackrah Effects Arts on Health (ed. 2) Index 237 Stuff-weavers. c. stuff-weaving n. ΚΠ 1702 E. Calamy Abridgm. Baxter's Life & Times iii. 34 Their Common Trade of Stuff Weaving would find Work for all. d. Parasynthetic. stuff-bottomed adj. ΚΠ 1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. x. 215 The..heavy stuff-bottomed chairs. C3. stuff ball n. (see quot. 1880). ΚΠ 1880 C. H. J. Anderson Lincoln Pocket Guide 176 Patronesses of the Stuff Ball. Established in 1787 for the encouragement of native woollen manufacture... The ladies used to wear stuff gowns, and the gentlemen stuff coats [etc.]. [List of Patronesses, 1787–1879, follows.] stuff-catcher n. Paper-manuf. (see quot. 1920). ΚΠ 1920 T. W. Chalmers Paper Making 88 The liquid..contains quite a perceptible amount of fibre, together with a..proportion of the sizing and loading materials added to the pulp in the beaters. Efforts to save this material should..be made in the interests of economy. One method of doing so..is by the use of stuff-catchers. stuff-chest n. Paper-making the vat or reservoir into which the pulps from the beating engine are run and mixed. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > paper-making equipment > [noun] > vat stuff-chest1799 1799 Hull Advertiser 1 June 1/1 Paper-mill..comprises..four vatts, stuff~chests and beaters. 1881 Spons' Encycl. Industr. Arts IV. 1497 Whence the mixed stuff flows on the sand-tables, to be again used to dilute fresh pulp from the stuff-chests. stuff engine n. Paper-making the ‘beating engine’, a machine in which half-stuff is reduced to a fine pulp. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > paper-making equipment > [noun] > for pulping beater1825 beating-engine1825 rag engine1825 stuff engine1839 poacher1866 poaching engine1870 breaking-enginea1877 Hollander1878 breaker1880 kollergang1890 pulp stone1892 1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 924 The construction of the stuff-engine is represented in figs. 785, 786. stuff gown n. a junior counsel (see 5d above). ΘΚΠ society > law > legal profession > lawyer > [noun] > counsellor, barrister, or advocate > junior counsel devil1818 junior1837 stuff gownsman1852 stuff gown1867 stuff1889 1867 Woolrych Bar & Serjeant-at-Law 7 The promotions will be of a Stuff Gown, as it is called, or of a learned Counsel of the Crown. stuff gownsman n. ΘΚΠ society > law > legal profession > lawyer > [noun] > counsellor, barrister, or advocate > junior counsel devil1818 junior1837 stuff gownsman1852 stuff gown1867 stuff1889 1852 Fraser's Mag. Feb. 129/1 A sagacious chancellor lifts a stuff-gowns~man from the back row to the judgment-seat. stuff hat n. (see quot. 1839). ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > hat > made of specific material > other felt1612 castor1640 chip hat1723 Spanish hat1784 stuff hat1839 tinfoil hat1884 1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 634 The materials used in making stuff hats are the furs of hairs and rabbits freed from the long hair, together with wool and beaver. stuff heap n. a heap of coals and slack raised from a mine. stuff mark n. a weaver's mark woven into goods for the purpose of identification or as attestation of their quality. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > marking > mark of quality > [noun] > quality mark on cloth seal1480 stuff mark1662 1662 Act 14 Chas. II c. 5 §15 Every Person..shall weave his proper Stuff Mark into every peice of Stuff which he shall weave. stuff-melter n. Soap Manuf. an operative who extracts the oils, fats, etc. from the raw materials. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > makers of other manufactured materials > [noun] > of oil > type of sturgeon-boiler1673 oil presser1859 stuff-melter1884 1884 A. Watt Art of Soap-making 28 Kitchen-stuff, as prepared by the ‘stuff-melters,’ is a very useful article for mottled soaps. stuff-over adj. applied to chairs, etc., which are upholstered by having the material drawn over the frame of a fixed seat and secured beneath; also absol. as n., a stuff-over seat. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > [noun] > other seats desk1560 seat-arch1703 window seat1715 podium1722 sunkie1788 stab1805 screen1820 porch swing1891 club-fender1915 stuff-over1915 society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > [adjective] > type of seat hardbacked1836 cushionless1837 uncushioned1852 spinal1864 tilt-up1891 stuff-over1915 1915 R. S. Bowers et al. Furniture Making xxxi. 353 Stuffover chair and settee. 1930 Morning Post 12 Apr. Deep-seated Stuff-over Settee. 1963 Times 2 Feb. 11 The slip-in seat is almost universal and the stuffover almost unknown in Portuguese Chippendale chairs. 1972 Country Life 1 June 1414/1 Regency mahogany dining chairs..with stuffover seats. 1976 Liverpool Daily Post 11 Dec. (advt.) For sale, stuff-over roll back (Chesterfield Settee in silk damask). stuff-presser n. Woollen Manufacture a workman employed in pressing or finishing the cloth. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > [noun] > other processes starching1390 drawing1579 lapper1732 animalization1783 gassing1822 stuff-presser1831 rot-steep1835 plating1843 oversizing1882 Schreinering1905 Schreinerizing1906 potting1920 tie-dye1926 ikat1931 pre-boarding1940 permanent press1944 stentering1946 1831 B. Thackrah Effects Arts on Health 72 Stuff-pressers carry heavy plates of iron heated to redness. stuff-pump n. Paper-manuf. (see quot. 1920). ΚΠ 1920 T. W. Chalmers Paper Making 91 For handling the stuff on its way to the machine, pumps are usually required. An example of such a stuff pump..is illustrated in Fig. 79. stuff shoes n. (see quot. 1892). ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > shoe > [noun] > types of > made from specific material > other > shoes prunella1710 stuff shoes1794 1794 F. G. Waldron Heigho for Husband i. ii. 3 We'll..put on coarse linen gowns, and stuff shoes; enrol ourselves at a register-office; get good places. 1892 Labour Comm. Gloss. Stuff Shoes, shoes of which the tops or upper parts are made from ‘lasting’ [a woven worsted material], cashmere, or fancy cloth. stuff-shovel n. (see quot. 1858). ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > paper-making equipment > [noun] > other paper-making equipment reel1809 deckle1810 ass1823 stuff-shovel1858 grounding-machine1877 asp1919 riffler1924 1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Stuff-shovel, an implement used by the paper~makers. Draft additions September 2013 colloquial. great (also good, excellent, etc.) stuff: used to express approval, encouragement, or agreement; later also in weakened use, as a general conversational filler. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > approval [interjection] exactly1866 yah! yah!1886 good stuff1909 good (also nice) thinking1968 roots1974 shiok1977 big-up1993 1909 Lyceumite & Talent Sept. 27/3 ‘Hurrah!’.. ‘Great Stuff, Old Man!’ 1917 Boys' Life Oct. 32/2 ‘Let's drive all night and get to Keene Valley in the morning.’ ‘Great stuff, all right. I'm for it.’ 1931 Good Housek. (U.S. ed.) Dec. 159/3 I say, in Bill's language: ‘Atta boy! Good stuff!’ And let it go at that. 1984 Washington Post 17 May (Va. Weekly section) 16/3 Rochelle..reports that it's therefore six months since she set aside cigarettes forever. Great stuff! 1994 BBC Worldwide Nov. 72/1 Watching new presenter..Miles wittering through his first interviews. I felt my fingers itch on the remote control when he replied ‘excellent stuff’ for the third time. 2012 D. Nobbs Fall & Rise of G. Coppinger 78 ‘I am Bulgarian. I no have this culture of booze.’ ‘Great stuff. Good man.’ This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online June 2022). stuffn.² Brit. /stʌf/, U.S. /stəf/, South African English /stʌf/ Forms: Also Middle English stuf. Etymology: < Dutch stof dust (cognate with German staub): two independent adoptions. Now South African. Dust. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > constitution of matter > granular texture > [noun] > state of being powdery > dust dustc825 mulla1393 stourc1470 stuff1481 mouldera1552 stive1793 1481 W. Caxton tr. Hist. Reynard Fox (1970) 100 Thenne wold he goo aboue the wynde and reyse the duste, that it made his eyen ful of stufs. 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vi. 145 Herds..scouring away before me..amid such a cloud of stuff raised by their own tearing away that I never knew what I was firing at. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online June 2022). stuffv.¹ Brit. /stʌf/, U.S. /stəf/ Forms: Middle English stoff, 1500s stof, Middle English–1600s stuffe, Middle English–1600s stuf, Middle English– stuff. Etymology: < Old French estoffer (NE. dialect stoffeir : Anglo-Latin stuffare ) to furnish, equip, garrison (modern French étoffer , to furnish with what is necessary, to supply material for) = Spanish estofar , to embroider in relief, Portuguese estofar , to embroider, to quilt, to stuff (cushions, meat) < Romance stoffare : for the ulterior etymology see stuff n.¹ †1. a. transitive. To furnish (a fortified town, stronghold, an army, a commander, etc.) with men, munitions, and stores; to garrison (a town). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > defence > defend [verb (transitive)] > garrison set971 bemanc1175 ward1340 garnish?a1400 stuffc1400 fortify1470 force1535 garrison1569 garnison1583 garrisonize1657 society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > [verb (transitive)] > man manlOE stuffc1400 c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness* l. 1184 For þe borȝ was so bygge baytayled alofte, & stoffed wyth-inne with stout men to stalle hem þer-oute. 1444 Rolls of Parl. V. 74/1 Also to stuffe the Castelles, Tounes, and alle maner Forteresses. 1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur i. i. 35 The kyng..badde hym be redy and stuffe hym and garnysshe hym, for within xl dayes he wold fetche hym oute of the byggest castell that he hath. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvii. 350 Wardis..That war stuffit richt stalwardly With stanys, schot, and other thing. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvii. 213 The king..vald nocht brek doune the vall, Bot castell, and the toune with-all, Stuff weill with men and vith vittaill And alkynd othir apparaill. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid ix. iv. 4 The Troianis..All thar deray beheld..And baith wyth armour and with wappynnis brycht The tour hedis thai stuffit all that nyght. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xi. ix. 51 A party of the cietezanis, he said, Do stuf the entreis, and the portis defend. 1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) III. 314 He passit to Athell, And stuffit hes ilk castell that wes strang With men and meit. 1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xvi. 653/1 S. Iean a Towne of Normandy..which Edmund Duke of Somerset..had lately fortified and stuft with souldiers. 1640 J. Yorke Battels in Union of Honour 11 Hertford Castle..like wise the Castle of Berkhampsteade, both which he stuffed with French Garrisons. †b. To furnish (troops) with support; to reinforce; to support, aid (a war). to stuff a chase (Scottish), to provide men for, organize a pursuit. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > [verb (transitive)] > reinforce enforce1340 stuffc1400 renforce?1473 relieve1487 supply1487 refreshc1500 ranforce1547 strengthen1548 re-enforce1579 reinforce1589 seconda1609 recrew1637 recruit1642 the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > follow behind [verb (intransitive)] > pursue > organize people for a pursuit to stuff a chasec1400 c1400 Destr. Troy 8284 Menelay with his men meuyt in swithe,..Restorit hom stithly, stuffit hom anon. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 935 Horsis thai wan to stuff the chas gud spede. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 277 To stuff the chas feyll frekis folowit fast. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid x. ii. 89 Gif I evir into that weyr Minysterit dartis, wapynnys, or sic geyr? Or ȝit that bargane stuffyt or bet,..With Cupidis blynd lust and subtilite? Than had bene [etc.]. 1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1903) II. 77 To stuffe þis army..war ekit þe auld centurions. 1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) III. 170 Tha tuke haill purpois in that samin place, Efter king Edward for to stuffe ane chace. 1578 J. Rolland Seuin Seages 203 Ane Empreour..Quha had greit Kingis into his companie..Doing seruice... Sum for pastime and sum to stuf his weir. †c. To marshal (troops). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > [verb (transitive)] > draw up (troops) > in battle array setc1275 host1297 ordainc1300 devisec1325 battle1330 arraya1375 stuffc1390 addressa1393 embattle1393 fit?a1400 stedilla1400 fewterc1440 to pitch (also set) a fielda1500 order1509 pitcha1513 deraign1528 marshal1543 re-embattle1590 size1802 form1816 c1390 (?c1350) Joseph of Arimathie (1871) l. 601 Þe stiward of Tholomer stoffes hem to-gedere. †2. a. To supply or furnish (a person) with arms, provisions, money, etc. Const. of, with. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > supply > provide or supply (something) [verb (transitive)] > provide or supply (a person or thing) with anything feather?c1225 serve?c1225 astore1297 purveya1325 purveyc1325 warnishc1330 supply1384 bego1393 garnish?a1400 stuff14.. instore1432 relievec1480 providec1485 appurvey1487 support?1507 furnishc1515 repair1518 supply1529 speed1531 help (a person) to (also with)1569 sort1598 suffice1600 enduea1616 starta1640 employ1690 find1713 to fix out1725 issue1737 service1969 14.. Sc. Acts Robt. I (1844) I. 468/2 Ilk lord sal cum stuffyt & purvayt [L. stuffatus] to þe ost of caryage and vyttalis as he wil be servyt. 1430–40 J. Lydgate tr. Bochas Fall of Princes (1554) ix. xxxviii. 217 I, not expert, nor stuffed with language. 1432 Rolls of Parl. IV. 410/1 The merchantes strangiers been stuffed so gretely therwith. c1475 Partenay 6378 Thys lady..To all other lades exemplair, Well stuffed with all maner of goodnesse. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xi. 47 Off tresour so stuffit is he, That he may vageowris haf plente. 1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer i. f. cccxxxv^v If thou laudest & ioyest any wight, for he is stuffed with suche maner richesse, y^u [read thou] arte in that beleue begiled. 1551 King Edward VI Jrnl. (Roxburghe Club) II. 327 Then, that she shuld be brought at her father's charge three monthes before she was twelf, sufficiently juelled and stuffed. 1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iii. v. 181 A Gentleman..Stuft as they say with honorable parts. View more context for this quotation 1656 T. Burton Diary (1828) I. 198 This day hath brought you work enough for half a year, and another day will stuff you sufficiently. †b. To arm and equip (a soldier). Alliterative phrase, stuffed in steel. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > arming or equipping with weapons > arm or equip [verb (transitive)] weaponc1000 aturnc1220 armc1275 atil1297 attire1297 enarmc1320 apparelc1325 tirec1330 garnish?a1400 stuff?a1400 gearc1400 relieve1487 to set forthc1515 to arm out1533 munition1579 ?a1400 Morte Arth. 1932 Whene any stirttez to stale, stuffe þame þe bettere, Ore thei wille be stonayede, and stroyede in ȝone strayte londez. a1420 Aunters of Arth. 391 In stele was he stuffede, þat stourne vppone stede. a1483 Liber Niger in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (1790) 17 Every man stuffed and renned [sic] at the Kinges costes of suche defence as he coude best deale withall. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xi. l. 22 The Sotheroun was rycht douchty in thar deid, To-gydder straik, weyll stuffyt in steyll weid. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 266 Befor him come feyll stuffyt in fyne steill. †3. a. To furnish (a place) with accessories, stock, inhabitants; to store with provisions, etc. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > supply > provide or supply (something) [verb (transitive)] > provide or supply (a person or thing) with anything > stock (a place, etc.) with something fillOE store1264 pitchc1300 stuffc1386 fretc1400 replete?a1425 enstorea1450 engrange1480 plenish1488 freightc1503 people1581 stocka1640 stack1652 bestore1661 to lay in1662 c1386 G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale 208 Houses of office stuffed with plentee. c1400 Rom. Rose 7065 So that the tour were stuffed wel With alle richesse temporel. 1430–40 J. Lydgate tr. Bochas Fall of Princes (1554) iv. ix. 107 In a caue..he made him to be throu, The place stuffed with good barking houndes. 1449 Sc. Acts Jas. II (1814) II. 36/2 Gif ony man..resettis ony þat ar conuict of tresone..or þat stuffis the housis of þaim þat ar conuict of tresone..[they] sal be punyst as tratouris. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cxxiii. 148 They fledde away..and left their houses well stuffed, and graunges full of corne. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 742/1 I stuffe, or store a grounde with thynges that growe and encrease, je peuple. 1546 Supplic. Poor Commons sig. b.vi Bringynge them [sc. children] vp other to beare walletes other els yf they be sturdi to stuffe prisons, & garnishe galowtrees. 1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 168 This Weald:..was.., not planted with Townes,..but stoared and stuffed with heardes of Deare. 1598 R. Barckley Disc. Felicitie of Man ii. 101 Hee buildeth his house with his sonnes money,..and stuffeth it handsomely. 1606 N. Breton Poste with Packet Madde Lett. (new ed.) II. sig. E^v Whose seruants better gouerned? whose house better stuffed and maintained? †b. To store (goods) in a receptacle or place; to keep (flocks) in a place. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > supply > storage > store [verb (transitive)] > in a receptacle to shut upc1400 stowc1485 stuff1567 to stow away1795 the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > sheep-farming > rear sheep or wool [verb (transitive)] > fold foldc1440 stuff1567 sheepfold1610 enfold?1611 cot1804 wattle1908 1567 Bauldwin's Mor. Philos. (Palfr.) (1600) iii. 58 Princes liue more surely with the gathering to them men of good liuing & conuersation, then with treasures of mony stuffed in their chestes. 1605 1st Pt. Jeronimo sig. B Farmers that crack barns, With stuffing corne, yet starue the needy swarmes. 1606 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1889) IV. 280 No person shall att any tyme hencefurthe stuffe, hould, or keepe any sheepe in or vpon any the sayd highwayes. a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) ii. i. 346 In Iuory cofers I haue stuft my crownes. View more context for this quotation †4. To line (a helmet, a garment) with cloth, etc. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > tailoring or making clothes > tailor or make clothes [verb (transitive)] > line double14.. stuffc1400 linec1405 c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 606 Þe helme..Þat watȝ stapled stifly, & stoffed wyth-inne. c1400 Siege Jerusalem (1932) 422 Was noȝt, while þe nyȝt laste, bot nehyng of stedis, Strogelyng in stele wede & stuffyng of helmes. 1473–4 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 16 Gret braid clath to stuf ij doublatis to the King. 1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. c Thai stuffit helmys in hy Breist plait and birny. 1552 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1913) X. 70 Item, ane elne of quhite bukrame to stuff the hude and slevis. 1590 J. Smythe Certain Disc. Weapons 46 Deepe steele skulles in very narrowe brimbd hats, well stuffed for the easines of their heades. 5. a. To line or fill with some material as a padding; to distend or expand with padding; esp. to fill (a bedtick, cushion, etc.) with packing in order to furnish a yielding support. Also with out, up. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > condition of being internal > make internal or interior [verb (transitive)] > line > pad or stuff stopc1400 stuffc1450 bolster1530 suffulce1599 pad1741 wad1759 upholster1873 the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > expand or enlarge [verb (transitive)] > distend > with fullness > stuff stuffc1450 to bulk out?1529 bolster1530 bombase1573 embolster1631 c1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 241 Cadace wolle or flokkys,..To stuffe withal thi dobbelet, and make the of proporcyon. 1480 Wardrobe Accts. Edward IV in N. H. Nicolas Privy Purse Expenses Elizabeth of York (1830) 125 For making and stuffing of a sadelle. 1480 Wardrobe Accts. Edward IV in N. H. Nicolas Privy Purse Expenses Elizabeth of York (1830) 130 Federbeddes stuffed with downe. 1494 Act 11 Hen. VII c. 19 Quyltes mattres and cussions stuffed with horse here. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 741/2 I stuffe a tycke of a bedde with fethers, je emplume. 1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 v. v. 81 Giue me your dublet, and stuffe me out with straw. View more context for this quotation a1656 Bp. J. Hall Shaking of Olive-tree (1660) ii. 135 Many a one..hath found nothing but an image of clouts laid upon a bolster stuffed with Goats hair. a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1679 (1955) IV. 190 The board is made so exactly Even, & the Edges [of a billiard-table] not stuff'd. 1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Baucis & Philemon 47 Two Cushions stuff'd with Straw, the Seat to raise. a1716 R. South Serm. (1823) V. 140 Many of these [Plato's scholars] found it easier to imitate Plato's shoulders than his philosophy, and to stuff out their gowns than to furnish their understandings. 1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 674 For there [i.e. in the theatre] some noble lord Shall stuff his shoulders with king Richard's bunch. 1827 W. Scott Surgeon's Daughter in Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. II. xv. 350 Horsemen..in a sort of defensive armour, consisting of rich silk dresses, rendered sabre-proof by being stuffed with cotton. 1839 J. W. Burgon Life & Times Sir T. Gresham (1839) I. iii. 210 His breeches, which were stuffed out with cotton, were more useful than ornamental. 1891 F. W. Farrar Darkness & Dawn I. i. 5 He had lingered on, chewing in his agony the tow with which his mattress was stuffed. 1908 Animal Managem. (War Office) 210 To stuff a collar under these circumstances means that it is too tight when the horse puts up muscle. figurative and in extended use.1633 G. Herbert Temple: Sacred Poems 48 I found that some had stuff'd the bed with thoughts, I would say, thorns.1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. vi. 22 A considerable part of Ancient times, was by the Greeks themselves termed μύθικον, that is made up or stuffed out with fables. View more context for this quotation1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. 122 Lying words of miracles, wherewith they stuffe up a whole houres preaching.1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 296 His other Citations, with which his Margin is plentifully stuft out.1782 W. Cowper Hope in Poems 146 No need, he cries, of gravity stuff'd out With academic dignity devout, To read wise lectures, vanity the text. b. Of material: To serve as padding or stuffing. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > condition of being internal > make internal or interior [verb (transitive)] > line > pad or stuff > serve as stuffing for stuffc1530 c1530 in Archaeologia 25 503 For vj lb. of flock for to stuff cusshonys iiij d. 1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iii. ii. 43 The barbers man hath bin seene with him, and the olde ornament of his cheeke hath already stufft tennis balls. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) ii. i. 86 Your Beards deserue not so honourable a graue, as to stuffe a Botchers Cushion. View more context for this quotation †c. To distend, expand (as if by padding). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > expand or enlarge [verb (transitive)] > distend > with fullness strut1540 stuff1605 crawa1658 stuff1827 1605 Famous Hist. Capt. Stukeley sig. I3 The ioyfull breath that issues from thy lips, Comes like a lusty gale to stuffe our sailes. a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iii. iv. 97 Greefe fils the roome vp of my absent childe:..Stuffes out his vacant garments with his forme. View more context for this quotation 1631 T. Fuller Davids Sinne xxx. sig. B2 Their very sighs might serve to stuffe the sayle. 1678 T. Porter French Conjurer i. 4 Let his Breeches be made straight and stufft with Whalebone, to reduce his Limbs into a Spanish Posture. †d. To convert (into something) by stuffing. Obsolete (? nonce-use). ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > condition of being internal > make internal or interior [verb (transitive)] > line > pad or stuff > convert into by stuffing stuff1724 1724 J. Swift Let. to Molesworth 18 I have read..of an Eastern King who put a Judge to Death for an iniquitous Sentence, and ordered his Hide to be stuffed into a Cushion. 6. Cookery. To fill (the inside of a bird or animal, a piece of meat, etc.) with forcemeat, herbs, etc. as a stuffing. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation for table or cooking > stuffing > stuff [verb (transitive)] to stop full1342 farcea1400 force?a1400 stuffc1430 marinate1722 bombard1747 truffle1868 c1430 Two Cookery-bks. i. 32 Fyrste Stuffe þin chekons in þis wyse. c1430 Two Cookery-bks. i. 40 Þan stuffe hem as þou stuffyst a Pigge. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 741/2 I stuffe a podyng or suche lyke, je farce. 1570 in J. Gutch Collectanea Curiosa (1781) II. 6 For a lege of mutton to be boyled and stofed with parshleye..viij d. 1591 A. W. Bk. Cookrye (rev. ed.) 12 To make puddings of a Swine..take the guts clean washed, and stuffe them with the aforesaid stuffe. a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. v. 26 As shee went to the Garden for Parseley to stuffe a Rabit. View more context for this quotation a1627 T. Middleton More Dissemblers besides Women iv. ii, in 2 New Playes (1657) 52 I would they [sc. the ducks] were all rotten rosted, and stuft with Onions. 1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery ii. 26 To Stuff a Leg or Shoulder of Mutton. 1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery ii. 36 Take a Turky or Fowl, stuff the Breast with what Force-Meat you like. 1846 A. Soyer Gastron. Regenerator 255 Stuff the rabbits and roast them. 1855 R. K. Philp Pract. Housewife 108 Tomatas, to stuff.—Take some fine tomatas and scoop the inside out, [etc.]. 7. To fill out (the skin of a beast, bird, etc.) with material so as to resemble the living creature; spec. in Taxidermy, to fill the skin of (a bird or beast) with materials to preserve it and present it in its natural form. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > condition of being internal > make internal or interior [verb (transitive)] > line > pad or stuff > a dead animal stuff1555 1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 261 He causeth them [rebels] to be slene... Then to bee stuffed with chaffe, and sette vppe. 1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet v. i. 43 And in his needie shop a tortoyes hung, An allegater stuft . View more context for this quotation 1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 163 The Cowes..will give no Milke till the skinne of the Calfe bee stuffed and set before them. 1727 P. Longueville Hermit 222 They carried away..the fine Bird he had taken such Pains to dress and stuff. 1821 W. Scott Kenilworth III. v. 73 Many birds have flown as high, that I have seen stuffed with straw, and hung up to scare kites. 1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iii. vii. 63 I was down at the water-side, looking for parrots brought home by sailors, to buy for stuffing. 1915 F. Legge Forerunners of Christianity II. xiii. 281 He was decapitated, and his skin stuffed with straw was suspended at the gate of the town. 8. a. To fill (a receptacle); esp. to fill by packing the materials closely together, to cram full. to stuff out: to fill a receptacle so full that it bulges; to distend with filling. ΘΚΠ the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > fill > stuff or cram cramc1000 pitchc1300 thrustc1380 purra1398 stopc1400 farcec1405 stuffc1440 line?1521 enfarce1531 threstc1540 pack1567 prag1567 prop1568 referse1580 thwack1582 ram1590 pang1637 farcinate1638 stivea1639 thrack1655 to craw outa1658 trig1660 steeve1669 stow1710 jam1719 squab1819 farcy1830 cram-jam1880 jam-pack1936 the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > fill > to bursting strut1648 stodge1674 burst1697 to stuff out1827 c1440 J. Lydgate Horse, Goose & Sheep 616 When deth approchyth..The riche is shet with coloures & picture To hide his careyn stuffid with fowle ordure. ?1521 A. Barclay Bk. Codrus & Mynalcas sig. Ciij^v Some mery fytte..Of Pert of Norwyche,..Or buckysshe ioly, wele stuffed as a ton. 1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 i. ii. 130 If you will go I will stuffe your purses full of crownes. View more context for this quotation 1612 J. Taylor Laugh & be Fat 17 For as a candle's stuft with cotton weeke, So thou art cramm'd vp to the brim with Greeke. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica ii. v. 87 So a glasse stuffed with peeces of spunge. View more context for this quotation 1675 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Odysses viii. 96 The Horse of Wood..Stufft by Ulysses full of Warriours good. 1705 E. Ward Hudibras Redivivus I. iv. 11 In's Hand a Wallet stuff'd with Papers. 1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. x. 93 At another time she imagined her daughter's pockets filled with farthings, a certain sign of their being one day stuffed with gold. 1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 228 But when unpack'd your disappointment groans To find it [sc. a parcel] stuff'd with brickbats, earth and stones. 1827 W. Scott Surgeon's Daughter in Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. II. iii. 87 His pockets stuffed out with bank-notes. 1830–60 O. W. Holmes Dorchester Giant iv Then he brought them a pudding stuffed with plums. 1855 C. Kingsley Westward Ho! xi As soon as Fortune stuffs your mouth full of sweetmeats, do you turn informer on her? 1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 855 The thickening of the hair is due to its being stuffed with fungus. 1904 B. von Hutten Pam i. iii. 14 ‘Well, Jane, and so here we are,’ he began, stuffing his little meerschaum pipe from a leather bag. b. Said of the filling material. ? Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > completely > a receptacle stuff1664 1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 25 The crustaceous Cornea of the Creckets Eye, which I have carefully separated from all the matter which stuff'd it within. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 235 With inward Arms the dire Machine they load, And Iron Bowels stuff the dark Abode. c. To crowd, cram (a vehicle, room with persons). Also intransitive for passive, to be crammed. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > fill > crowd stuff1571 throng1578 impester1601 thrust1615 throng1637 confluence1656 frequent1667 crowd1695 the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up space [verb (intransitive)] > be or become full > be stuffed or crammed strut?1611 thwack1650 stuff1799 1571 in J. C. Tingey Rec. City of Norwich (1910) II. 345 The victualling houses were stuffed with players and dronkerdes. 1799 M. Hunter Jrnl. 27 Feb. (1894) 138 On the wedding-day we assembled at ten o'clock, Jews and Christians; the room as full as it could stuff. 1829 C. Rose Four Years S. Afr. 10 The long heavy waggon..hired for the day, and stuffed with black damsels. d. U.S. ‘To put fraudulent votes into (a ballot-box)’ (Webster 1911). ΘΚΠ the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > expression of choice by some approved method > give (a vote) [verb (transitive)] > put fraudulent votes in box stuff1857 1857 W. Chandless Visit Salt Lake II. iii. 178 The ballot-box,..particularly if some one, as at San Francisco, has taken the liberty to ‘stuff’ it—‘fails of its mission’. 1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms 20 Ballot-box stuffing..consists in the use of a box..so constructed with a false bottom and compartments as to permit the introduction of spurious ballots. 1879 A. W. Tourgée Fool's Errand xl. 298 I affirm that every cent of this money was used..to stuff ballot-boxes. 1890 H. M. Field Bright Skies & Dark Shadows 127 Ballot boxes may be emptied of the ‘wrong’ votes, and stuffed with the ‘right’ kind. 1906 Q. Rev. July 283 The interval had been devoted to stuffing the ballot-boxes. e. To pack or load (a freight container). slang. ΘΚΠ society > travel > transport > [verb (transitive)] > load a container stuff1965 1965 R. B. Oram Cargo Handling vi. 115 Containers can come into..a Consolidation Depot where they are stuffed with miscellaneous general cargo. 1968 Wall St. Jrnl. 27 Sept. 34/2 Management agreed to allow the dockworkers to strip and stuff containers in which mixed types of cargo had been packed. 1972 Timber Trades Jrnl. 13 May . 44/1 The dockers threaten to continue the ban until their demands are met which include the exclusive right to stuff (pack) and unstuff (unpack) containers. 1972 Nature 11 Aug. 301/2 British dockers are..asking that members of their union should have a right to employment at the centres at which containers are stuffed with goods. 9. figurative. a. To fill, crowd (speech, etc.) with something (usually something objectionable). ΘΚΠ the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > fill > specifically in immaterial sense > speech or writing stuffa1568 a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) ii. f. 43^v Som man..is ouer full of words, sentences, & matter, & yet all his words be proper..his whole matter grownded vpon good reason, & stuffed with full arguments. 1576 A. Fleming tr. Cicero in Panoplie Epist. 126 It shall not neede to stuffe my letter with particularities. 1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Britain i. 270 Stuffed hee [Nennius] hath that little booke with many a pretty lie. a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iv. iv. 126 I will not looke vpon your Masters lines. I know they are stuft with protestations, And full of new-found oathes. View more context for this quotation 1682 J. Dryden Medall Epist. Whigs sig. A3 Your Seditious Pamphlets are stuff'd with particular Reflexions on him. 1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 8 Those Accusations..are commonly stuffed with many odious Generals, that the Proofs seldom make good. 1707 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 22 Apr. (O.H.S.) II. 8 His Discourse was stuff'd with Anglicisms. 1768 H. Walpole Hist. Doubts 123 John Rous..is an author to whom no credit is due, from the lies and fables with which his work is stuffed. 1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India III. vi. i. 35 The absurdities, with which..a bill of indictment is frequently stuffed. 1886 F. Harrison Choice Bks. 84 A book stuffed with curious facts. b. To fill (a person, his mind, heart, etc.) with ideas, feelings, etc. Also with up. ΘΚΠ the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > fill > specifically in immaterial sense fillOE fulfila1300 replete1482 replenishc1529 stuff1531 install1577 charge1581 saturate1737 brim1844 supercharge1846 implete1862 earwig1880 infill1880 1531 W. Tyndale Expos. 1 John (1537) 77 They be so full stuffed wyth lyes, that they can receaue nothyng els. 1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes (new ed.) f. 9^v I see well..by the sighes that thou outthrowest: That thou art stuffed full of wo. 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie ii. xii. 47 b Fortune..stuffed the hearte of the Athenians with..insatiable ambition. 1587 G. Turberville Tragicall Tales f. 74 The Queene perceiuing this In mockage to be ment Of Alboyne..Was stuft with raging rancour streight. 1611 W. Trumball Let. 17 Feb. in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. i. 563 These Provinces are no lesse stuffed with the unlikely newes of the King of Spaine's inclination to matche with y^e Lady Elizabeth then the Courte of Madrid. a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iv. ii. 133 Do not seeke to stuffe My head with more ill newes: for it is full. View more context for this quotation a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Spanish Curat iv. v, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. G^v/2 Pray ye buy Books,..You have a learned head, stuffe it with Libraries. 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 110 They were stuft so full of their own skill and knowledge, that they scorned his simplicity. 1651 in T. Fuller Abel Redevivus 562 These men were stuffed with such pride, self-conceit, disdain, and intolerable contempt, that [etc.]. 1743 A. Pope Dunciad (rev. ed.) iv. 249 For thee we dim the eyes, and stuff the head With all such reading as was never read. 1876 Ld. Tennyson Harold ii. ii. 40 I have often talk'd with Wulfnoth, And stuff'd the boy with fears that these may act On Harold when they meet. 1886 F. Harrison Choice Bks. 2 Now, to stuff our minds with what is simply trivial, simply curious..this is to close our minds to what is solid and enlarging. 1889 J. K. Jerome Three Men in Boat 7 Don't stuff up your head with things you don't understand. c. slang. To ‘cram’, hoax, humbug (a person). Also with up. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > trickery, playing jokes > trick, hoax [verb (transitive)] jape1362 bejape1377 play1562 jugglea1592 dally1595 trick1595 bore1602 jadea1616 to fool off1631 top1663 whiska1669 hocus1675 to put a sham upon1677 sham1677 fun?1685 to put upon ——1687 rig1732 humbug1750 hum1751 to run a rig1764 hocus-pocus1774 cram1794 hoax1796 kid1811 string1819 to play off1821 skylark1823 frisk1825 stuff1844 lark1848 kiddy1851 soap1857 to play it (on)1864 spoof1889 to slip (something) over (on)1912 cod1941 to pull a person's chain1975 game1996 1844 ‘J. Slick’ High Life N.Y. I. 113 I wonder if these leetle coots think I'm soft enough to believe that [etc.]... They don't stuff me up that way, any how, if I did come from the country. 1859 J. C. Hotten Dict. Slang 104 Stuff, to make false but plausible statements, to praise ironically, to make game of a person,—literally to stuff him with gammon or falsehood. 1885 Harper's Mag. Apr. 730/1 ‘That chatter-box Lenoir was joking,’ he said; ‘he was stuffing you to see how much you would both swallow.’ 10. a. To fill (oneself, one's stomach, etc.) to repletion with food. Also said of the food. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > excessive consumption of food or drink > eat or drink to excess [verb (transitive)] > feed (oneself) to excess over-quatc1275 glutc1315 fill1340 stuffa1400 aglutc1400 agroten1440 grotenc1440 ingrotenc1440 sorporrc1440 replenisha1450 pegc1450 quatc1450 overgorgea1475 gorge1486 burst1530 cloy1530 saturate1538 enfarce1543 mast?1550 engluta1568 gull1582 ingurgitate1583 stall1583 forage1593 paunch1597 upbray1598 upbraid1599 surfeitc1600 surcharge1603 gormandize1604 overfeed1609 farcinate1634 repletiate1638 stodge1854 the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > satisfying hunger or thirst > satisfy or relieve hunger or thirst [verb (transitive)] > fill to satisfaction stuffa1400 a1400–50 Wars Alex. 4436 Ȝoure mawis ȝe fill, With bakin mete..Stuffis so ȝour stomake with stullis & of wynes. c1430 J. Lydgate Minor Poems (Percy Soc.) 155 The ryche man sit stuffyd at his stable [read table], The poore man stant hungry at the gate. 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iii. xi. 91 Wines..wherof they do stuffe them selues so ful. 1600 Weakest goeth to Wall sig. B2^v O for one pot of mother Bunches Ale,..it would cleare my sight, comfort my heart, and stuffe my veines. a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) v. i. 53 When we haue stufft These Pipes, and these Conueyances of our blood With Wine and Feeding, we haue suppler Soules Then in our Priest-like Fasts. View more context for this quotation 1657 A. Sparrow Rationale Bk. Common Prayer (new ed.) 156 Aerius and his followers..rising early to fill themselves with flesh and wine with which being full stuft they..scoff at the Catholick Christians folly. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 601 Ravin..Which here, though plenteous, all too little seems To stuff this Maw. View more context for this quotation 1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xii. xii. 288 He was prevailed upon not only to stuff himself with their Food, but to taste some of their Liquors. View more context for this quotation 1800 P. B. Shelley Verses on Cat i It waits for some dinner To stuff out its own little belly. 1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 1043 The latter [i.e. an Indian]..has so to stuff his stomach three or four times a day, that dilatation of that organ..must necessarily ensue. 1903 G. H. Lorimer Lett. Merchant xvii. 249 [He] Stuffed himself till his hide was stretched as tight as a sausage skin. b. To cause (a patient) to eat to repletion. Also, to treat (a disease) by feeding up the patient. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > treatments by diet > treat by prescribed diet [verb (transitive)] > treat by specific diet starve1617 stuff1769 sagoize1847 1769 W. Buchan Domest. Med. ii. 168 Stuffing the patient with sweet-meats and other delicacies, is likewise very pernicious. 1849 H. D. Thoreau Week Concord & Merrimack Rivers 270 Stuff a cold and starve a cold are but two ways. 1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 163 A cure was effected simply by stuffing them with food. †c. To satiate, glut. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > be or become wearied or bored with [verb (transitive)] > satiate or surfeit sadeOE overcloy1527 satiatea1530 stuff1530 cloy1576 clog1590 surcloy1594 satea1616 clama1670 pall1680 stale1709 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 741/2 I am as moche stuffed at the stomacke with the savour of this meate as if I had eaten a great meale: je suis autant assouny en lestomac [etc.]. 1603 S. Daniel Def. Ryme in Panegyrike (new ed.) sig. H6^v Those continuall cadences of couplets..runne on with..a kinde of certaintie which stuffs the delight rather then intertaines it. d. intransitive for reflexive. To gorge oneself with food. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > excessive consumption of food or drink > eat or drink to excess [verb (intransitive)] > be gluttonous gourmanda1450 gormandize1548 belly-cheer1549 gurmander1570 overfeed1589 overeat1590 glutton1602 cram1609 gutc1616 pamper1620 guttle1654 gluttonize1656 engorge1667 stuff1728 guddle1825 to make a pig of oneself1873 guts1903 1728 Street-robberies, Consider'd 14 I..call'd for my Dinner, and stufft heartily. 1733 J. Swift Epist. to Lady 8 Let them neither starve, nor stuff. 1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 224 Gluttony stuffs till it pants, and unbuttons and stuffs again. 1794 J. Webster Gen. View Agric. Galloway 16 They go to the plough at 6 in the morning, and return at 2 in the afternoon; when they begin to feed, (or stuff which is their phrase). 1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility II. viii. 140 And such a mulberry tree in one corner! Lord! how Charlotte and I did stuff the only time we were there! View more context for this quotation 1840 R. H. Barham Bagman's Dog in Ingoldsby Legends 1st Ser. 328 The Bagman bluff Continued to ‘stuff’, Of the fat, and the lean, and the tender and tough. e. transitive. To gorge (food). Also with down. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > excessive consumption of food or drink > eat or drink to excess [verb (transitive)] engorge1497 ingurgitate1570 guzzle1583 gurgitate1656 gorge1713 stuff1743 stow1833 1743 E. Montagu Let. 8 Jan. in E. J. Climenson Elizabeth Montagu (1906) I. 142 Wishing many good things to a boy who was stuffing a luncheon of bread and butter. 1775 J. Jekyll Let. 30 May in Corr. (1894) i. 24 At six they stuff bread and cakes and wine. 1819 J. Jekyll Let. 22 June in Corr. (1894) iii. 80 Lord Yarmouth again takes..a large party of us in the Admiralty barge next week to stuff whitebait at the ‘Artichoke’ beyond Greenwich. 1908 G. K. Chesterton Man who was Thursday 169 They paused for a few minutes only to stuff down coffee and coarse thick sandwiches at a coffee stall. 11. a. To fill (an aperture, cavity, etc.) by thrusting something tightly in; hence, to stop up, to plug; †to stop (a tooth). Also of a material: To fill up so as to block (an aperture). ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > close or shut [verb (transitive)] > close an aperture or orifice > by thrusting something in rama1425 stuff1597 the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > fill > fill a vacant space or place > fill a hole or gap stop1388 stuff1597 to fill up1598 to fay in1847 infill1958 the world > health and disease > healing > dentistry > practise dentistry [verb (transitive)] > fill stop1592 stuff1824 fill1848 remineralize1860 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II i. i. 44 Once more, the more to aggrauate the note, With a foule traitors name stuffe I thy throte. View more context for this quotation 1682 G. Hartman Digby's Choice Coll. Rare Secrets i. 139 The Ashes must be taken out..that they may not stuff up the place. c1724 J. Swift Answer Delany in Wks. (1735) II. 304 Which made my Grand-Dame always stuff-her-Ears. 1823 W. Scott St. Ronan's Well II. xi. 272 I would rather..that my ears were stuffed with the earth of the grave, than that they should again hear your voice! 1824 C. K. Sharpe Corr. (1888) II. 323 Had I not been under the hands of..the dentist, touching a diabolical tooth, which cannot be stuffed, and I am sweer to pull. 1833 J. Rennie Alphabet Sci. Angling 36 I found an old willow stump full of holes stuffed with clay. 1883 J. Gilmour Among Mongols vi. 83 The hero..stuffing the mouth of the hole with his white bonnet. b. To fill up (a joint or other space) by cramming something in; spec. in Building, to fill in the inside (of a wall) with concrete or rubble. ? Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > surfacing or cladding > clad or cover [verb (transitive)] > fill in gaps stop1388 beamfill1469 stuff1601 caulk1616 run1657 strike1668 fog1678 chinse1770 sneck1792 darn1801 pug1820 chink1822 grout1838 fillet1843 gallet1851 slush1875 putty1879 spackle1950 society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or providing with specific parts > build or provide with specific parts [verb (transitive)] > provide with wall(s) > build or repair wall in specific way windc900 quarter1580 stuff1601 honeycomb1908 1601 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Trauellers Breuiat 96 Commonly the wals of strong places are built of great beames stuffed with turffe or mosse, leauing loopholes for their shot. 1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 46/1 Let them be..as broad as the Wall, that there may be no need to stuff the middle with rubbish. 1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 47/1 The Ancients made it a rule in stuffing their Walls, not to continue the stuffing uninterrupted to the heighth of above five foot. 1776 G. Semple Treat. Building in Water 78 He treats largely of..filling (or stuffing as he calls it) the inside with small Stones, and Lime-liquid. †12. a. Of bodily humours: To clog, choke up (the body, its organs, vessels, etc.). Also with up. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > cause disorders of internal organs [verb (transitive)] > obstruct oppilate?a1425 stuff?1527 ?1527 Iudycyall of Vryns iii. vii. 51 b Whan y^e liuer is stopped & stuffed through mater of euyl humours. ?1527 Iudycyall of Vryns iii. ii. 48 Yf that parte of the hede be agreued & stuffed or stonyed, through euyll humours and fumosites. 1579 T. Lupton Thousand Notable Things viii. 208 Whosoever..is stuffed in the stomacke with tough or harde fleame. 1618 S. Latham New & 2nd Bk. Falconrie xxviii. 131 Whensoeuer you shall..haue such a Hawke that is any whit stuft in the head. 1657 J. Cooke tr. J. Hall Sel. Observ. Eng. Bodies 98 The stomach being stuffed and burdened with ill humors. 1710 T. Fuller Pharmacopœia Extemporanea 95 It..stuffs up the loaded Bronchia with a fresh Income of Filth. 1750 J. Theobald App. Medulla Med. Univ. 65 This Gargle..is to cleanse and scour the Glands of the Mouth from the Phlegmatic Matter, that stuffs and swells them. †b. To cause stuffiness in (the head or nose). ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disorder of respiratory organs > cause disorder of respiratory organ [verb (transitive)] > cause stuffiness or obstruction stuff1555 1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions ii. i. 116 The plenty of swiete odours, and sauours in those quarters, doeth verely stuff y^e smelling. 1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iii. iv. 59 Beat. I am stuft cosin, I cannot smell. View more context for this quotation 1620 T. Venner Via Recta ii. 39 The more bitter it be drunken, the more it filleth and stuffeth the head. 13. a. To thrust (something, esp. loose materials) tightly into a receptacle or cavity. Also figurative. Also with away, in. ΘΚΠ the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > insertion or putting in > insert or put in [verb (transitive)] > forcibly > cram or stuff in crama1400 wedge1513 enfarce1564 pester1570 farce1579 stuff1579 ram1582 impact1601 thrum1603 to cramp in1605 crowd1609 impack1611 screw1635 infarciate1657 stodge1674 choke1747 bodkin1793 jam1793 bodkinize1833 pump1899 shoehorn1927 1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue f. 44^v The Romanistes so cloyed the church with their fond festiuals, leud Legendes, and stuffed into the seruice of God such store of idle reuelations,..that [etc.]. 1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §365 Put them [the rose-leaves] into a Sweet Dry Earthen Bottle,..stuffing them close together. 1650 J. Milton Tenure of Kings (ed. 2) 57 They, in a cautious line or two here and there stuft in, are onely verbal against the pulling down or punishing of Tyrants. 1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas II. vi. i. 422 I bought these dresses, into which we may stuff an inquisitor, a notary, and an alguazil, and play the parts. 1843 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross I. v. 88 With hands stuffed into his side pockets. 1878 Chambers's Jrnl. 19 Jan. 42/2 A woman was busy making a clearance of such articles as she could stuff away in corners and behind chairs. 1901 W. R. H. Trowbridge Lett. Mother to Elizabeth xxi. 100 She stuffed her handkerchief into her mouth to keep from shrieking. 1904 R. Bridges Demeter 280 He, like a hurried thief, Stuffs his rich silks into too small a bag. 1907 J. H. Patterson Man-eaters of Tsavo xxiv. 276 Courageously stuffing his left arm right into the great jaws. b. To pack tightly (a person) in a confined space; to crowd (a number of persons together). Also with down, up. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (transitive)] > crowd together thrumble1513 throng1539 pack1545 serr1562 close1566 frequent1578 thwack1589 contrude1609 crowd1612 serry1639 wedge1720 stuff1728 pig1745 jam1771 condensate1830 wad1850 sardine1895 1728 C. Cibber Vanbrugh's Provok'd Husband ii. i. 26 One has really been stufft up in a Coach so long, that—Pray Madam—could not I get a little Powder for my Hair? 1770 J. Langhorne & W. Langhorne tr. Pericles in Plutarch Lives (1879) I. 196/1 A number of people stuffed together..in small huts. 1786 E. Inchbald I'll tell you What i. i. 4 If we are stuffed into a coach. 1900 E. Glyn Visits of Elizabeth 195 There I was, taken off to a sofa..and stuffed down between Godmamma and the Marquis's mother. intransitive for reflexive.1750 M. Delany Autobiogr. & Corr. (1861) II. 535 I cannot forgive Mrs. J. stuffing into your chariot. 14. Leather Manufacturing. To dress (a skin) with a coating of dubbing or stuffing. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with skins > work with skins [verb (transitive)] > treat with grease or oil liquor1502 dub?1611 shamoy1842 stuff1844 wax1885 dubbin1897 fat1903 fat-liquor1903 1844 Newton's London Jrnl. Conjoined Ser. 25 247 When the skin or hide is taken out of tan..the patentees oil the grain with good clean oil, then stuff the fleshy side with a mixture of oil, tallow, and turpentine, and hang it up to dry. 1885 H. R. Procter Text-bk. Tanning 193 The process of currying consists in softening..the hides and skins..and in saturating or ‘stuffing’ them with fatty matters. 15. a. Used in coarse expressions of contempt or defiance. Cf. fuck v. 4; stuffed adj. 6. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > hold in contempt [verb (transitive)] > reject contemptuously spurnc1000 defyc1320 refusec1350 to kick against or ata1425 spurn1526 asperne1548 explodea1552 to cast (also throw) at one's heels1555 mock1558 foot1600 outscout1602 slighta1616 scout1710 stuff1955 the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [verb (transitive)] > obscene oaths pox1601 bugger1779 frig1905 fuck1922 shag1933 stuff1955 motherfuck1965 feck1972 1955 P. Larkin Less Deceived 30 Ah, were I courageous enough To shout stuff your pension! 1958 F. Norman Bang to Rights 168 The geezer just got up and told him to stuff his job. 1962 J. Wain Strike Father Dead iv. 205 Very well, they could keep the whole outfit. And stuff it. I wasn't even going to stay in the same miserable country. 1965 ‘T. Hinde’ Games of Chance i. iii. 99 ‘Stuff you,’ I said. 1973 J. Porter It's Murder with Dover i. 2 He should have taken a stronger line... Told old Crouch to stuff it. 1976 ‘W. Trevor’ Children of Dynmouth xi. 204 She goes up to him and tells him to stuff himself and in a flat half-minute he's belting the old lorry up the London road. 1977 Time 28 Mar. 11/1 Stuff the criticism. He said what he was going to do. He won the election and now he's doing it. b. coarse slang. (With male subject) to copulate with (someone). Occasionally intransitive. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > engage in sexual activity with [verb (transitive)] > have sexual intercourse with > specifically of a man jape1382 overliec1400 swivec1405 foilc1440 overlay?a1475 bed1548 possess1592 knock1598 to get one's leg over1599 enjoy1602 poke1602 thrum1611 topa1616 riga1625 swingea1640 jerk1650 night-work1654 wimble1656 roger1699 ruta1706 tail1778 to touch up1785 to get into ——c1890 root1922 to knock up1934 lay1934 pump1937 prong1942 nail1948 to slip (someone) a length1949 to knock off1953 thread1958 stuff1960 tup1970 nut1971 pussy1973 service1973 1960 B. Moore Luck of Ginger Coffey iv. 85 Trying to stuff another man's wife, is that your idea of being a friend? 1977 F. Raphael Cracks in Ice (1979) 333 Satura..can also be applied, since it was originally adjectival, to a pregnant woman and to a sausage, both of which, in vulgar parlance, can clearly claim to have been stuffed. 1982 J. Scott Uprush of Mayhem vi. 63 You come all the way from the city..to stuff—to have intercourse with her. 1983 Sunday Times 16 Jan. 35/3 He was sacked from Eton for stuffing the boys' maids. Compounds stuff-guts n. one who is addicted to gorging the stomach; in quot. 1875 attributive. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > excessive consumption of food or drink > [noun] > gluttony > glutton glutton?c1225 glutc1394 globberc1400 glofferc1440 gluttoner1482 gourmanda1492 ravener1496 belly1526 golofer1529 lurcher1530 cormorant1531 flesh-fly1532 full-belly1536 belly-godc1540 flap-sauce1540 gourmander1542 gully-gut1542 locust1545 glosser1549 greedy-guts1550 hungry gut1552 belly-slave1562 fill-belly1563 grand paunch1569 belly-paunch1570 belly-swainc1571 trencher-slave1571 slapsauce1573 gorche1577 helluo1583 gormandizer1589 eat-all1598 engorger1598 guts1598 guller1604 gourmandist1607 barathrum1609 eatnell1611 snapsauce1611 Phaeacian?1614 gutling1617 overeater1621 polyphage1623 tenterbelly1628 gut-head1629 stiffgut1630 gobble-guts1632 gulist1632 polyphagian1658 fill-paunch1659 gype1662 gulchin1671 stretch-gut1673 gastrolater1694 gundy-gut1699 guttler1732 gobbler1755 trencher-hero1792 gorger1817 polyphagist1819 battenera1849 stuff-guts1875 chowhound1917 gannet1929 Billy Bunter1939 guzzle-guts1959 garbage can1963 foodaholic1965 1875 R. Browning Aristophanes' Apol. 112 In me, 't was equal-balanced flesh rebuked Excess alike in stuff-guts Glauketes Or starveling Chairephon. Draft additions December 2006 transitive. Sport colloquial (originally British). To defeat (an opponent) comprehensively. Cf. stuffing n. Additions. ΚΠ 1986 Times 13 Sept. 38/3 Five of the team that beat England the other night played against us for Göteborg last season and we stuffed them 7-3. 1995 FourFourTwo Oct. 137/3 Spain stuffed them 5–1 on Albanian soil but usually visiting teams don't enjoy their trip to Tirana. 2004 Seattle Times (Nexis) 1 Jan. e4 The first meeting was 1999, Mike Holmgren's first year in Seattle. The Seahawks stuffed the Packers, 27-7. Draft additions September 2022 transitive. colloquial (chiefly British, Australian, and New Zealand). To spoil, ruin, mess up, destroy. Also: to cause emotional or psychological harm to (a person or animal); to damage or disturb. Cf. fuck v. 2, screw v. 6b.Sometimes viewed (and used) as a euphemism for fuck, but the sense has developed and endured independently. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [verb (transitive)] > make unstable or unbalanced overthrow?a1425 touch1607 unhinge1612 unship1827 the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > be unskilled in [verb (transitive)] > bungle botch1530 bungle1530 mumble1588 muddle1605 mash1642 bumble?1719 to fall through ——1726 fuck1776 blunder1805 to make a mull of1821 bitch1823 mess1823 to make a mess of1834 smudge1864 to muck up1875 boss1887 to make balls of1889 duff1890 foozle1892 bollocks1901 fluff1902 to make a muck of1903 bobble1908 to ball up1911 jazz1914 boob1915 to make a hash of1920 muff1922 flub1924 to make a hat of1925 to ass up1932 louse1934 screw1938 blow1943 to foul up1943 eff1945 balls1947 to make a hames of1947 to arse up1951 to fuck up1967 dork1969 sheg1981 bodge1984 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > an error, mistake > make a mess of [verb (transitive)] blow1943 to make a hames of1947 to cock up1948 goof1960 to fuck up1967 1972 M. Shadbolt Strangers & Journeys xxii. 482 The last we saw of them, they were running back to the hall. ‘Well, that's stuffed it,’ Sandy said savagely to Paul. 1977 Observer 7 Aug. 19/2 [He] believed that the Irish horse had been ‘completely stuffed’ by that experience [sc. failing to clear a wall in a show-jumping competition]. 1989 Canberra Times 30 May 1/1 That's really stuffed it, hasn't it? On top of everything else the Australian economy has to contend with, Moody's announces it is reviewing our credit rating. 1998 J. Glancey C20th Architecture 382/1 Thankfully.., Hitler's Nazi war machine was stuffed by the Allies and Speer was imprisoned. 2012 @Thriftystitcher 22 June in twitter.com (accessed 18 Apr. 2022) Day has been totally stuffed by the bus strike! 2021 Townsville (Queensland) Bull. (Nexis) 26 Oct. 8 A former..prison teacher claims ‘terrifying’ workplace bullying has left him scarred... ‘The bullying totally stuffed me, I'll never be able to work again.’ Draft additions September 2022 colloquial (chiefly British, Australian, and New Zealand). to stuff up. a. transitive. To ruin or destroy; to make a mess of; to damage, botch, or spoil; to mismanage or mishandle. Cf. to fuck up 1a, to screw up 10a.Sometimes viewed (and used) as a euphemism for to fuck up, but the sense has developed and endured independently. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > be unskilled in [verb (transitive)] > bungle botch1530 bungle1530 mumble1588 muddle1605 mash1642 bumble?1719 to fall through ——1726 fuck1776 blunder1805 to make a mull of1821 bitch1823 mess1823 to make a mess of1834 smudge1864 to muck up1875 boss1887 to make balls of1889 duff1890 foozle1892 bollocks1901 fluff1902 to make a muck of1903 bobble1908 to ball up1911 jazz1914 boob1915 to make a hash of1920 muff1922 flub1924 to make a hat of1925 to ass up1932 louse1934 screw1938 blow1943 to foul up1943 eff1945 balls1947 to make a hames of1947 to arse up1951 to fuck up1967 dork1969 sheg1981 bodge1984 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > an error, mistake > make a mess of [verb (transitive)] blow1943 to make a hames of1947 to cock up1948 goof1960 to fuck up1967 1977 Aircraft (Royal Aeronaut. Soc. Austral. Div.) Sept. 23/3 [Pirates are] quite capable of completely stuffing up the industry at a time when demand is stronger than it's been for years. 1977 B. Mason Let. 28 Sept. in B. Mason & D. Dowling Every Kind of Weather (1986) 261 The feeling that we could have had Paradise here, the Just City, and have somehow—there is no better term than yours—stuffed it up. 1992 R. G. Barrett Les Norton's White Shoes, White Lines and Blackie 225 Seems like a shame to stuff up a good pair of track-suit pants. 2009 H. FitzGerald My Last Confession xiii. 67 I told him..I didn't want to get married... Marriage was old fashioned and a sure way to stuff up a good thing. b. intransitive. To make a (serious) mistake; to completely mismanage or mishandle a situation; to ruin something. Cf. to fuck up 1b, to screw up 10c.Sometimes viewed (and used) as a euphemism for to fuck up, but the sense has developed and endured independently. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > do something unskilfully [verb (intransitive)] > bungle bungle1549 to put the wrong foot before1590 bebotch1609 to put one's foot in (also into) it1796 mess1823 boggle1853 to make a muff of oneself1884 duff1890 bobble1908 miscue1941 blow1943 to make a porridge (of)1969 sheg1981 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > an error, mistake > blunder [verb (intransitive)] > make a mess of to have done it1837 to fuck up1944 to make a pig's ear (out) of1954 to make a porridge (of)1969 1985 Age (Melbourne) 13 Dec. 19/2 I..started getting in trouble with the law... I came down to get away from it all and was good for two years. Then I stuffed up again when I started going out with this guy. 1987 Sydney Morning Herald 5 Aug. 1/7 Basically the idea is to let them know that I know that they've stuffed up—to put the fear of God into them so they know that if they stuff up again they're in real trouble. 2000 Independent on Sunday 27 Feb. (Nexis) 25 If by some strange quirk of science we've stuffed up, we'll put our hands up. 2016 Dominion Post (Wellington, New Zealand) (Nexis) 22 Oct. 2 Everyone, even the most ardent critic of rugby, accepts that players will stuff up—sometimes seriously. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online December 2022). † stuffv.² Etymology: < Old French estofer (modern French étouffer). = Provençal estofar: of obscure origin. Obsolete. 1. transitive. To stifle, suffocate. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > crush, stifle, or overwhelm (feelings, etc.) shendOE whelvec1000 allayOE ofdrunkenc1175 quenchc1175 quashc1275 stanchc1315 quella1325 slockena1340 drenchc1374 vanquishc1380 stuffa1387 daunt?a1400 adauntc1400 to put downa1425 overwhelmc1425 overwhelvec1450 quatc1450 slockc1485 suppressa1500 suffocate1526 quealc1530 to trample under foot1530 repress1532 quail1533 suppress1537 infringe1543 revocate1547 whelm1553 queasom1561 knetcha1564 squench1577 restinguish1579 to keep down1581 trample1583 repel1592 accable1602 crush1610 to wrestle down?1611 chokea1616 stranglea1616 stifle1621 smother1632 overpower1646 resuppress1654 strangulate1665 instranglea1670 to choke back, down, in, out1690 to nip or crush in the bud1746 spiflicate1749 squasha1777 to get under1799 burke1835 to stamp out1851 to trample down1853 quelch1864 to sit upon ——1864 squelch1864 smash1865 garrotte1878 scotch1888 douse1916 to drive under1920 stomp1936 stultify1958 the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > heat or make hot [verb (transitive)] > warm a person or the body > oppress with heat stuffa1387 swelter1601 stivea1722 grill1825 a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 289 For aȝenst an hondred of Egbert his knyȝtes, þat were pale men and lene, come a þowsand þat were rody and fat, and were raþer i-stuffed [L. suffocandi] wiþ swoot þan with blood. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 449 A monke..fil doun of a brigge into a water, and was i-stufled [v.r. y-stoffed; L. suffocatus est]. 1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) v. xxiv And ȝif þe matere is colerike and woode it stuffeþ þe beest & sleeþ anon. c1460 Brut cxxxiii. 138 (Douce 323) Þere was grete hete..þat al stuffed [c1400 stuffled: see stifle v.¹ 1b] was. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 741/2 I stuffe a man with stynkynge savour, je empunaysis. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 741/2 I stuffe one up, I stoppe his breathe, je suffoque. I wyll take the ayre, I was almoste stuffed up in the prease. 1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus (i. 6) 107 He that hath beene in a noysome place is stuffed. 1636 D. Featley Clavis Mystica xl. 618 We all that have lived in the pleasures of sinne, have our senses stuffed and debilitated. 2. intransitive. To become out of breath. Scottish. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered breathing > have or cause breathing disorder [verb (intransitive)] > become short of breath shortc1000 to blow outc1440 stuff1488 to break one's brain, mind, wind1598 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 285 His hors stuffyt for the way was depe and lang. 1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. cii^v Quhen he is stuffit thair strike. 3. To render stifling. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > heat or make hot [verb (transitive)] > render stifling stuff1662 1662 R. Boyle Def. Doctr. Spring of Air iii. xviii. 81 [The Air] may thereby become sometimes more stufft, and sometimes more destitute of adventitious Exhalations. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online March 2021). † stuffv.³ Etymology: Variant of stow v.² Obsolete. rare. transitive. = stow v.² ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > maiming or mutilation > maim or mutilate [verb (transitive)] > crop or cut off ears stow1513 stuff1587 curtalize1622 crop1764 1587 R. Holinshed et al. Hist. Eng. (new ed.) vii. vii. 173/2 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) I He commanded that such pledges as had béene deliuered to his father by certeine noble men..should haue their noses slit, and their eares stuffed [1577 stoued]. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online March 2021). stuffv.⁴ Brit. /stʌf/, U.S. /stəf/ Etymology: Probably back-formation on stuffy adj. U.K. slang. intransitive. To confine oneself in a stuffy atmosphere; to remain cooped up; to ‘frowst’. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > be hot [verb (intransitive)] > have or get the sensation of heat > remain in hot or close place stew1671 frowst1884 stuff1927 1927 R. Lehmann Dusty Answer ii. 63 Why stuff indoors? Come out, Judith. 1941 J. Cary House of Children xxxiv. 142 On wet days we could read as much as we liked without being accused..of stuffing in the house. 1950 J. Cannan Murder Included vii. 167 Babette ignored his whistle, preferring..to stuff indoors. 1985 Company Dec. 52/2 I get a better feeling spending the day with hundreds of appreciative old people than ever I would sitting stuffing in front of the telly. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1993; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.¹c1330n.²1481v.¹c1386v.²a1387v.³1587v.⁴1927
随便看	close criticism close crown close cut close distance close down close fight close harmony close in close mourner close mourning close off close on a wind close one's days close one's doors close one's ears close one's ears occasionally ear close one's eyes to close one's face close one's mind close one's mouth close order close out close packing close pile close port

stuffn.1

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Draft additions September 2013

stuffn.2

stuffv.1

Compounds

Draft additions December 2006

Draft additions September 2022

Draft additions September 2022

† stuffv.2

† stuffv.3

stuffv.4

stuffn.¹

stuffn.²

stuffv.¹

† stuffv.²

† stuffv.³

stuffv.⁴