Stuff n.
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.
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.
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.
Clear a. [Compar. Clearer superl. Clearest.]
1. Free from opaqueness; transparent; bright; light; luminous; unclouded.
The stream is so transparent, pure, and clear. --Denham.
Fair as the moon, clear as the sun. --Canticles vi. 10.
2. Free from ambiguity or indistinctness; lucid; perspicuous; plain; evident; manifest; indubitable.
One truth is clear; whatever is, is right. --Pope.
3. Able to perceive clearly; keen; acute; penetrating; discriminating; as, a clear intellect; a clear head.
Mother of science! now I feel thy power
Within me clear, not only to discern
Things in their causes, but to trace the ways
Of highest agents. --Milton.
4. Not clouded with passion; serene; cheerful.
With a countenance as clear
As friendship wears at feasts. --Shak.
5. Easily or distinctly heard; audible; canorous.
Hark! the numbers soft and clear
Gently steal upon the ear. --Pope.
6. Without mixture; entirely pure; as, clear sand.
7. Without defect or blemish, such as freckles or knots; as, a clear complexion; clear lumber.
8. Free from guilt or stain; unblemished.
Statesman, yet friend to truth! in soul sincere,
In action faithful, and in honor clear. --Pope.
9. Without diminution; in full; net; as, clear profit.
I often wished that I had clear,
For life, six hundred pounds a-year. --Swift.
10. Free from impediment or obstruction; unobstructed; as, a clear view; to keep clear of debt.
My companion . . . left the way clear for him. --Addison.
11. Free from embarrassment; detention, etc.
The cruel corporal whispered in my ear,
Five pounds, if rightly tipped, would set me clear. --Gay.
Clear breach. See under Breach, n., 4.
Clear days Law., days reckoned from one day to another, excluding both the first and last day; as, from Sunday to Sunday there are six clear days.
Clear stuff, boards, planks, etc., free from knots.
Syn: -- Manifest; pure; unmixed; pellucid; transparent; luminous; obvious; visible; plain; evident; apparent; distinct; perspicuous. See Manifest.