stuff
the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object
How often you will meet it
Rank 2,041 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 8,764 times across 139,755 chapters — 0.004% of every word in the library.
What it means
noun
- the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object also: material coal is a hard black materialwheat is the stuff they use to make bread
- miscellaneous unspecified objects the trunk was full of stuff
- informal terms for personal possessions also: clobber did you take all your clobber?
- senseless talk also: stuff and nonsense, hooey, poppycock don't give me that stuff
- unspecified qualities required to do or be something the stuff of herosyou don't have the stuff to be a United States Marine
- information in some unspecified form it was stuff I had heard beforethere's good stuff in that book
verb
- cram into a cavity The child stuffed candy into his pockets
stuff in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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Then Fred's eye roved toward the pile of stuff on which no one had bid.
The High School Boys' Canoe Club · H. Irving (Harrie Irving) Hancock · Chapter 1
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There was good stuff in this boy that he applied this caustic and not a salve.
The Courage of the Commonplace · Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews · Chapter 1
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In the ungrazed pastures swaths of dead stuff caught their feet, and the ground beneath glistened with sweat.
Actions and reactions · Rudyard Kipling · Chapter 1
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This stuff, as the Centaur rubbed it in with his fingers, turned the appearance of his hoofs to gold.
Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice · James Branch Cabell · Chapter 1
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I prefer the rifle: it makes a clean job of death, and does not prematurely stuff the bird with globules of lead.
In the Wilderness · Charles Dudley Warner · Chapter 1