For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the
work to make it, and too much. --Ex. xxxvi.
7.
Ambitions should be made of sterner stuff. --Shak.
The workman on his stuff his skill doth show, And
yet the stuff gives not the man his skill. --Sir J.
Davies.
2. The fundamental material of which anything is made up;
elemental part; essence.
Yet do I hold it very stuff o' the conscience To do
no contrived murder. --Shak.
3. Woven material not made into garments; fabric of any kind;
specifically, any one of various fabrics of wool or
worsted; sometimes, worsted fiber.
What stuff wilt have a kirtle of? --Shak.
It [the arras] was of stuff and silk mixed, though,
superior kinds were of silk exclusively. --F. G.
Lee.
4. Furniture; goods; domestic vessels or utensils.
He took away locks, and gave away the king's stuff.
--Hayward.
5. A medicine or mixture; a potion. --Shak.
6. Refuse or worthless matter; hence, also, foolish or
irrational language; nonsense; trash.
Anger would indite Such woeful stuff as I or
Shadwell write. --Dryden.
7. (Naut.) A melted mass of turpentine, tallow, etc., with
which the masts, sides, and bottom of a ship are smeared
for lubrication. --Ham. Nav.
Encyc.
8. Paper stock ground ready for use.
Note: When partly ground, called half stuff. --Knight.
{Clear stuff}. See under {Clear}.
{Small stuff} (Naut.), all kinds of small cordage. --Ham.
Nav. Encyc.
{Stuff gown}, the distinctive garb of a junior barrister;
hence, a junior barrister himself. See {Silk gown}, under
{Silk}.
Sometimes this crook drew hazel bought adown, And
stuffed her apron wide with nuts so brown. --Gay.
Lest the gods, for sin, Should with a swelling
dropsy stuff thy skin. --Dryden.
2. To thrust or crowd; to press; to pack.
Put roses into a glass with a narrow mouth, stuffing
them close together . . . and they retain smell and
color. --Bacon.
3. To fill by being pressed or packed into.
With inward arms the dire machine they load, And
iron bowels stuff the dark abode. --Dryden.
4. (Cookery) To fill with a seasoning composition of bread,
meat, condiments, etc.; as, to stuff a turkey.
5. To obstruct, as any of the organs; to affect with some
obstruction in the organs of sense or respiration.
I'm stuffed, cousin; I can not smell. --Shak.
6. To fill the skin of, for the purpose of preserving as a
specimen; -- said of birds or other animals.
7. To form or fashion by packing with the necessary material.
An Eastern king put a judge to death for an
iniquitous sentence, and ordered his hide to be
stuffed into a cushion, and placed upon the
tribunal. --Swift.
8. To crowd with facts; to cram the mind of; sometimes, to
crowd or fill with false or idle tales or fancies.
9. To put fraudulent votes into (a ballot box). [U. S.]
Taught harmless man to cram and stuff. --Swift.