stuff 
the L. word is better preserved in the verb stuff, 
cram: see ntuff. stop, r.] I. - 1. Substance or 
material in some definite state, form, or situa- 
tion; any particular kind, mass, or aggregation 
of matter or things; material in some distinct 
or limited sense, whether raw, or wrought or 
to be wrought into form. 
Of suclie a ttnfe as easy is to fynde 
Is best to bilde. 
Palladia*, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), P- 1 6 - 
The wit and mind of man, if it work upon matter, . . . 
worketh according to the stuf. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, i. 44. 
The breccia, too, is quite comparable to moraine stuf. 
J. Geikie, Oeol. Sketches, ii. 4. 
The stiff upstanding of fine young stu/, hazel, ash, and 
so on, tapering straight as a fishing-rod, and knobbing out 
on either side with scarcely controllable bulges. 
R. D. Blackmore, Cripps, the Carrier, xxiv. 
2. Incorporeal or psychical substance of some 
special kind ; that which arises from or con- 
stitutes mind, character, or quality; any im- 
material effluence, influence, principle, or es- 
sence. See mind-stuff. 
Yet do I hold it very stuff o' the conscience 
To do no contrived murder. Shak., Othello, i. 2. 2. 
As soon as my soul enters into heaven, I shall be able to 
say to the angels, I am of the same eluff as you, spirit and 
spirit. Donne, Sermons, xn. 
Do not squander time; for that is the stuff which life is 
made of. Franklin, Way to Wealth, 1. 
(3006 stuffing-wheel 
treacle, made into a ball, and used with water for touching stuffer (stuf'er), n. [< stuff + -e 
1. One 
up the'dark parts of the plate. White stuff, a gilders' wno s tuff s , or does anything called stuffing: as, 
composition, formed^ofsize^whmng, used in forming ft ^^tn 
a surface over wood that is to be gilded. 
II. a. Made of stuff, especially of light woolen 
fabric Stuff gown, a gown made of stuff, as distin- 
- n ? L i 
queen s counsel. 
There she sat, . . 
apron, white handke 
tffer; a ballot-box stuffer. 2. That 
which stuffs; specifically, a machine or an in- 
strument for performing any stuffing operation : 
as, a sausage-stoker; a staffer for horse-collars. 
They [tomatoes] fall into the hopper, and are fed by the 
stuffer, a cylinder worked by a treadle, into the can. 
Workshop Receipts, 2d ser., p. 445. 
stuff-gownsman (stuf 'gounz"man), H. A junior 
'Charlotte'Bronte, Jane Eyre, xvi. barrister; a stuff gown. See stuff, a. 
stuff (stuf), r. [Early mod. E. also stuffe; < 
ME. stuffen; from the noun.] I. trans. 1. To 
fill with any kind of stuff or loose material ; 
cram full ; load to excess ; crowd with some- 
thing: as, to stuff the ears with cotton. 
If you will go, I will </you^purseS H fuU clowns. ^ 
2. Specifically, to fill with stuffing or packing; 
cram the cavity of with material suitable for the 
special use or occasion : as, to stuff a cushion or 
a bedtick ; to stuff a turkey or a leg of veal for 
roasting. 3. To cause to appear stuffed; puff 
or swell out ; distend. [Rare.] 
Lest the gods for sin 
Should with a swelling dropsy stu/ thy skin. 
Dryden, tr. of Persius's Satires, v. 278. 
The spirit of Ximenes was of too stern & stuf to be so 4. To fill the prepared skin of (an animal), for 
uasilv extinguished by the breath of royal displeasure. 
1'rescott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 26. 
3. Goods; possessions in a general sense ; bag- 
gage : now chiefly in the phrase household stuff'. 
Assemblit were sone the same in the fight, 
And restorit full stithly the (/of the Grekes. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. &.), 1. 5775. 
I will not stay to-night for all the town; 
Therefore away, to get our stuff aboard. 
Shak., C. ofE., iv. 4. 162. 
I have good household stuff, though I say it, both brass 
and pewter, linens and woollens. Steele, Spectator, No. 324. 
4. Something made up, or prepared or designed, 
for some specific use. (o) Woven material; a textile 
the purpose of restoring and preserving its 
natural form and appearance : the process in- 
cludes wiring and mounting. See taxidermy 
and stuffing, n., 3. 
A few stufed animals (as the Rector was fond of natural 
history) added to the impressive character of the apart- 
ment. Scott, Heart of Mid-Lothian, xxxii. 
5. Figuratively, to fill, cram, or crowd with 
something of an immaterial nature : as, to stuff 
a poem with mawkish sentiment. 
Well stuffed with all maner of goodnesse. 
Rom. of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), 1..6378. 
You have a learned head, stuff it with libraries. 
Fletcher, Spanish Curate, iv. 6. 
jlnon -- 
stuffed, or stuffed up, as by a cold. [Bare.] 
As soon as one [cold] has departed with the usual final 
stage of stuffiness, another presents itself. 
George Eliot, in Cross, II. xii. 
stuffing (stuf'ing), 11. [Verbal n. of stuff, v.] 1. 
The material used for filling a cushion, a mat- 
tress, a horse-collar, the skin of a bird or other 
animal, etc. 
Your titles are not writ on posts, 
Or hollow statues which the best men are, 
Without Promethean stuffings reached from heaven ! 
B. Jonson, Poetaster, v. 1. 
2. In cookery, seasoned or flavored material, 
such as bread-crumbs, chestnuts, mashed po- 
tatoes, or oysters, used for filling the body of 
a fowl, or the hollow from which a bone has 
been taken in a joint of meat, before cooking, 
to keep the whole in shape, and to impart flavor. 
Ridley, a little of the stuffing. It'll make your hair curl. 
Thackeray, Philip, xvi. 
Geese and ducks to be freighted hereafter with savoury 
stuffing. Lemon, Wait for the End, I. 14. 
3. The art or operation of filling and mounting 
the skin of an animal ; taxidermy. Two main 
methods of stuffing are distinguished as soft and hard. In 
the former the skin is wired, or otherwise fixed on an in- 
fabric of any kind ; specifically, a woolen fabric. 
and there 6. To use as stuffing or filling; dispose of by 
At my little mercer's in Lumbard Street, . 
cheapened some stuffs to hang my room. 
Pepys, Diary, II. 434. 
crowding, cramming, or packing. 
Put them [roses] into ... a glass with a narrow mouth, 
(6) A preparation of any kind to be swallowed, as food, stuffing them close together. Bacon, Nat. Hist., 366. 
drink, or medicine. A woman was busy making a clearance of such articles 
did compound for her 
as she could stuff away in corners and behind chairs. 
Chambers'* Jour., LV. 42. 
7. To constitute a filling for ; be crowded into ; 
occupy so as to fill completely. 
With inward arms the dire machine they load, 
And iron bowels stuf the dark abode. 
Dryden, JEneiA, ii. 26. 
8. To apply stuff to ; treat with stuff, in some 
technical sense. See stuff, n., 4 (d) (2). 
A certain stuf, which, being ta'en, would cease 
The present power of life. 
Shak., Cymbeline, v. 5. 255. 
(c) Ready money; cash ; means in general. [Colloq.] 
But has she got the stuf, Mr. Fag? is she rich, hey? 
Sheridan, The Rivals, i. 1. 
(d) A preparation or composition for use in some indus- 
trial process or operation. Among the many things tech- 
nically known as stuf in this sense are (1) ground paper- 
stock ready for use, the material before the final prepa- 
ration being called half-stock; (2) the composition of tal- 
low with various oils, wax, etc. (also called dubbing), used 
in a hot state by curriers to fill the pores of leather ; (8) 
the similar composition of turpentine, tallow, etc., with 
which the masts, sides, and other parts of wooden ships 
are smeared for preservation ; (4) the mixture of alum and 
salt used by bakers for whitening bread. For others, see 
phrases below. 
5. Unwrought matter; raw material to be 
worked over, or to be used in making or pro- 
ducing something: as, 'bieadstuffs (see bread- 
stuff); foodstuff; rough stuff (for carpenters' 
use) ; the vein-stuff of mines. 
The stuff, i. e., the mixed ore, veinstone, and country 
rock, having been cleansed, it is now possible to make a 
separation by hand. Encyc. Brit., XVI. 463. 
6. Refuse or useless material ; that which is to 
be rejected or cast aside; in mining, attle or 
rubbish. Hence 7. Intellectual trash or rub- 
bish; foolish or irrational expression ; fustian; 
twaddle : often in the exclamatory phrase stuff 
and nonsense ! 
A Deal of such Stuff t\\cy sung to the deaf Ocean. 
N. Bailey, tr. of Colloquies of Erasmus, I. 278. 
8f. Supply or amount of something; stock; 
provision; quantity; extent; vigor. 
That they leve resonable stuff '[of fuel] upon the bak fro 
spryng to spryng, to serue the pouere people of peny- stuff-chest (stuf'chest); n. 
worthes and halfpeny worthez in the neep sesons. ,,,v,;A , 
English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 425. Yat . 1 
I have but easy stvfe of money withinne me, for so meche 
as the seison of the yer is not yet growen. 
Pastvn Letters, I. 61. 
Clear stuff, in carp. , boards free from imperfections such 
as knots, wind-shakes, and ring-hearts. Coarse stuff, in 
building, a mixture of lime and hair used in the first coat 
and floating of plastering. Fine, free, inch stuff. See 
the qualifying words. Gaged stuff. Same as gage-stuff. 
Quarter stuff, in carp. See quarter -stuff. Red stuff, 
a watchmakers' name for crocus, or oxid-of-iron powder. 
Small stuff (naut.). See small. The real stuff. See 
bit, till the desired form is secured. 
mass of tow, shaped like the animal, is introduced within 
the skin, which is then molded upon this artificial body. 
Hard stuffing is usually practised upon birds. 
4. A filling of indifferent or superfluous mate- 
rial for the sake of extension, as in a book; 
padding. 
If these topics be insufficient habitually to supply what 
compositors call the requisite stuffing, . . . recourse is to 
be had to reviews. 
W. Taylor, in Robberds's Memoir, I. 425. (Dames.) 
5. A mixture of fish-oil and tallow nibbed into 
leather to soften it and render it supple and 
water-proof. E. B. Kn it/It t. 
The leather to receive grease or stuffing is usually placed 
in a rotating drum or wheel. C. T. Dams, Leather, p. 410. 
6. The wooden wedges or folds of paper used 
to wedge the plates of a comb-cutter's saw into 
the two grooves in the stock Rough stuffing, a 
composition of yellow ocher, white lead, varnish, and ja- 
pan, used as a groundwork in painting carnages. 
Ordinarily the hand process of stuffing leather is ac- s tuffing-boX (stuf'ing-boks), n. In macti., a con- 
omplished after rolling the sides into bundles with the D M,,. P f7, eP r.iii-imr- a steam air- or water- 
Tain side in, and softening them by treating or beating. steam , air , 01 
"C. T~'Davis, Leather, p. 409. 
9f. To stock or supply; provide with a quota 
or outfit ; furnish ; replenish. 
He stufed alle castelle 
Wyth armyre & vytelle. 
Arthur (ed. Furnivall), 1. 649. 
Stithe shippes & stoure stufet with vitell, 
All full vpon flote with fyne pepull in. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 274S. 
The same nyght I cam to Placiencia or Plesaunce ; ther 
I stufed me wt wyne and bred and other caseles as me 
thowght necessary for me at that tyme. 
Torkington, Diarie of Eng. Travell, p. 5. 
10. To deceive with humorous intent; gull. 
[Colloq.] TO stuff a ballot-box, to thrust into a bal- 
lot-box surreptitiously fraudulent ballots, or any ballots 
which have not actually been cast by legal voters. [U. S.] 
To Stuff out, to fill, round, or puff out ; swell to the 
full; distend; expand. 
Stuft out his vacant garments with his form. 
Shale., K. John, iii. 4. 97. 
II. intrans. To eat greedily ; play the glutton. 
He longed to lay him down upon the shelly bed/ and stuf; 
He had often eaten oysters, but had never had enough. 
If. S. Gilbert, Etiquette. 
In paper-nianu/., a 
xed preparatory to 
molding. 
stuffed (stuft), p. a. 1. Filled with or as with 
stuffing. 2. Having the nose obstructed, as 
during a cold. 
I am stufed, cousin ; I cannot smell. 
tight joint when it is required to pass a mova- 
ble rod out of a vessel or into it. It consists of 
a close boi cast round the hole through which the rod 
passes, in which is laid, around the rod and in contact 
Stuffing-box in Steam-engine. 
a, cylinder-head ; *, box cast integrally with the head a ; c, piston- 
rod ; a, d, packing wound about the rod ; c, follower for compressing 
the packing ; /, /, bolts and nuts for forcing the follower against the 
packing. 
with it. a quantity of hemp or india-rubber packing. This 
packing is lubricated with oily matter, and a ring is then 
placed on the top of it and pressed down by screws, so as 
to squeeze the packing into every crevice. The stuff- 
ing-box is used in steam-engines, in pumps, on the shaft 
of a screw steamer where it passes through the stern, etc. 
Also called packing -box. Lantern stuffing-box, a long 
stuffing-box with tightening-bolts, used in some marine 
E. H. Knight. 
ouid.il BbUU \naui.). .^ee xiiutu. - me real Btuix. DW _4..,*r ; / 4. tr if \ 
rtal\. Touching-stuff, in aquatint engraving, a com- StUtt-engine (stuf enjin), II. 
of the ashes of cork, ivory-black, and gall with a pulp-grinder. 
engines. . . . 
stuffing-brush (stuf'ing-brush), . A stiff brush 
for rubbing stuffing into leather. 
Shak., Much Ado, iii. 4. 64. stuffing-machine (stuf'ing-ma-shen"), . In 
3. In bot., filled with a cottony web or spongy tunning and rurryiiii/, a machine for working 
mass which is distinct from the walls : said of stuffing into leather, 
stems of fungi. stuffing-wheel (stuf'ing-hwel), H. In titiniiii,/. 
In ptiper-mantif., 
a stuffing-machine in which leather is worked 
with stuffing in a revolving hollow drum, the 
