Stuff (?), v. i. To feed gluttonously; to cram.
Taught harmless man to cram and stuff.
Swift.
Stuff , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stuffed (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Stuffing.]
[OE. stoffen; cf. OF. estoffer, F.
étoffer, to put stuff in, to stuff, to line, also, OF. estouffer to stifle, F. étouffer;
both perhaps of Teutonic origin, and akin to E. stop. Cf. Stop,
v. t., Stuff, n.]
1. To fill
by crowding something into; to cram
with something; to load to excess; as, to
stuff a bedtick.
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.]
Stuff (?), n. [OF. estoffe, F.
étoffe; of uncertain origin, perhaps of Teutonic origin and akin to E. stop, v.t. Cf. Stuff, v. t.]
1. Material which is to be worked up in any process of manufacture.
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.
&fist; 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.
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