stuffing
/'stʌfiɳ/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- Soft material used to fill something: A soft, often fluffy or springy material used to fill and give shape to items like cushions, pillows, stuffed toys, and upholstered furniture.
- A seasoned food mixture: A savory mixture of ingredients, such as bread, herbs, vegetables, and spices, used to fill the cavity of poultry, meat, or vegetables before cooking.
Usage Examples
- Noun (Soft material):
- The old armchair needs new stuffing.
- She removed the stuffing from the torn teddy bear to wash its fabric cover.
- Noun (Food mixture):
- My grandmother makes the best bread stuffing for Thanksgiving turkey.
- We prepared a vegetarian stuffing with mushrooms and wild rice.
Advanced Usage
- "knock the stuffing out of someone": To defeat someone decisively or to make someone feel very weak, shocked, or demoralized.
- The bad news really knocked the stuffing out of him for a few days.
- In a figurative sense, "stuffing" can refer to the essential substance or quality that gives something its character or fullness.
- After the scandal, the argument lost all its intellectual stuffing.
Variants and Related Words
- Stuff (verb): To fill something tightly with a substance.
- She stuffed the pillow with feathers.
- Stuffed (adjective):
- Filled tightly with something.
- a stuffed animal
- (Informal) Feeling very full after eating.
- I'm stuffed after that big meal.
- Stuffable (adjective): Capable of being stuffed.
Synonyms
- Filling: Material used to fill something (general term for both definitions).
- Padding: Soft material used for protection, cushioning, or shaping.
- Dressing: A seasoned mixture often cooked inside poultry (a common synonym in culinary contexts, especially in American English).
Phrasal Verbs / Related Verb Phrases
- Stuff with: To fill something completely with a particular material.
- The chef stuffed the peppers with a mixture of rice and herbs.
Related Idioms
- "stuff and nonsense": An exclamation meaning "that's ridiculous or untrue."
- "I don't believe a word of it—stuff and nonsense!" (Note: This idiom uses "stuff," not directly "stuffing," but is a closely related fixed expression.)
Noun
- padding put in mattresses and cushions and upholstered furniture
- a mixture of seasoned ingredients used to stuff meats and vegetables