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stuff up

 - 3 dictionary results

stuff

[stuhf]
–noun
1. the material of which anything is made: a hard, crystalline stuff.
2. material to be worked upon or to be used in making something: wood, steel, and other stuff for building.
3. material of some unspecified kind: a cushion filled with some soft stuff.
4. Chiefly British. woven material or fabric, esp. wool.
5. property, as personal belongings or equipment; things.
6. something to be swallowed, as food, drink, or medicine.
7. inward character, qualities, or capabilities: to have good stuff in one.
8. Informal. action or talk of a particular kind: kid stuff; Cut out the rough stuff.
9. worthless things or matter: to clean the stuff out of a closet.
10. worthless or foolish ideas, talk, or writing: a lot of stuff and nonsense.
11. Sports.
a. Baseball. the assortment of pitches that a pitcher uses in a game together with the ability to deliver them in the proper manner at the right speed to the desired spot: He saved his best stuff for the tougher hitters in the lineup.
b. spin or speed imparted to a ball, as by a baseball pitcher, a bowler, or a tennis player: a pitch with plenty of stuff.
12. Informal. journalistic, literary, artistic, dramatic, musical, or other compositions or performances: Bach composed some splendid stuff.
13. Informal. one's trade, skill, field, facts, etc.: She knows her stuff.
14. Slang. any kind of drug, esp. an illicit one.
15. Also called stock. Papermaking. refined and beaten wet pulp ready for spreading on the wire.
–verb (used with object)
16. to fill (a receptacle), esp. by packing the contents closely together; cram full.
17. to fill (an aperture, cavity, etc.) by forcing something into it.
18. to fill or line with some kind of material as a padding or packing.
19. to fill or cram (oneself, one's stomach, etc.) with food.
20. to fill (meat, vegetables, etc.) with seasoned bread crumbs or other savory matter.
21. to fill the preserved skin of (a dead animal) with material, retaining its natural form and appearance for display.
22. to put fraudulent votes into (a ballot box).
23. to thrust or cram (something) into a receptacle, cavity, or the like.
24. to pack tightly in a confined place; crowd together.
25. to crowd (a vehicle, room, etc.) with persons.
26. to clutter or fill (the mind) with facts, details, etc.
27. (in leather manufacturing) to treat (a skin, hide, etc.) with a composition of tallow and other ingredients.
28. to stop up or plug; block or choke (usually fol. by up).
–verb (used without object)
29. to cram oneself with food; eat gluttonously; gorge.

Origin:
1300–50; (v.) late ME stuffen to equip, furnish < OF estoffer lit., to stuff < Frankish *stopfōn, *stoppōn (see stop ); (n.) ME < OF estoffe, deriv. of the v.


stuffless, adjective


1, 2, 3. See matter. 9. waste, rubbish, trash. 10. nonsense, twaddle, claptrap, balderdash. 23. press, stow. 28. obstruct.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

stuff  (n.)
c.1330, "quilted material worn under chain mail," from O.Fr. estoffe "quilted material, furniture, provisions" (Fr. étoffe), from estoffer "to equip or stock," probably from O.H.G. stopfon "to plug, stuff," or from a related Frankish word (see stop). Sense extended to material for working with in various trades (1406), then (1580) "matter of an unspecified kind." Meaning "narcotic, dope, drug" is attested from 1929. To know (one's) stuff "have a grasp on a subject" is recorded from 1927. stuffy "poorly ventilated" is from 1831; sense of "pompous, smug" is from 1895.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: stuff
Pronunciation: 'st&f
Function: transitive verb
: to choke or block up (as nasal passages) stuffed up nose>
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