Material vs. Stuff: What's the Difference?

The substance or substances out of which a thing is or can be made.

The material out of which something is made or formed; substance.

Something, such as an idea or information, that is to be refined and made or incorporated into a finished effort

The essential substance or elements; essence

Materials Tools or apparatus for the performance of a given task

Unspecified material

Yard goods or cloth.

Household or personal articles considered as a group.

A person who is qualified or suited for a position or activity

Worthless objects.

Of, relating to, or composed of matter.

(Slang) Specific talk or actions

Of, relating to, or affecting physical well-being; bodily

The control a player has over a ball, especially to give it spin, english, curve, or speed.

Of or concerned with the physical as distinct from the intellectual or spiritual

The spin, english, curve, or speed imparted to a ball

Being both relevant and consequential; crucial

(Basketball) A dunk shot.

(Philosophy) Of or relating to the matter of reasoning, rather than the form.

Special capability

Having to do with matter; consisting of matter.

Chiefly British Woven material, especially woolens.

Worldly, as opposed to spiritual.

(Slang) Money; cash.

Significant.

(Slang) A drug, especially one that is illegal or habit-forming.

Matter which may be shaped or manipulated, particularly in making something.

To pack (a container) tightly; cram

Text written for a specific purpose.

To block (a passage); plug

A sample or specimens for study.

(Basketball) To block (a shot or an opponent who is shooting), especially before the ball leaves the shooter's hands.

Cloth to be made into a garment. Fabric.

To place forcefully into a container or space; thrust

A person, or people collectively, who are qualified for a certain position or activity.

(Sports) To shoot (a ball or puck) forcefully into the goal from close range.

Related data of various kinds, especially if collected as the basis for a document or book.

(Basketball) To dunk (the ball).

The substance that something is made or composed of.

To fill with an appropriate stuffing

(chess) All of a player's pieces and pawns on the chessboard.

To fill (an animal skin) to restore its natural form for mounting or display.

To form from matter; to materialize.

To cram with food.

Consisting of matter; not spiritual; corporeal; physical; as, material substance or bodies.

To fill (the mind)

Pertaining to, or affecting, the physical nature of man, as distinguished from the mental or moral nature; relating to the bodily wants, interests, and comforts; as, material well-being; material comforts.

To put fraudulent votes into (a ballot box).

Of solid or weighty character; not insubstantial; of consequence; not be dispensed with; important; significant.

To apply a preservative and softening agent to (leather).

Pertaining to the matter, as opposed to the form, of a thing. See Matter.

To overeat; gorge.

The substance or matter of which anything is made or may be made.

(informal) Miscellaneous items or objects; (with possessive) personal effects.

To form from matter; to materialize.

Furniture; goods; domestic vessels or utensils.

The tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object;

(informal) Unspecified things or matters.

Information (data or ideas or observations) that can be used or reworked into a finished form;

The tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object.

Things needed for doing or making something;

(archaic) A material for making clothing; any woven textile, but especially a woollen fabric.

Artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers;

(archaic) Boards used for building.

A person judged suitable for admission or employment;

Abstract/figurative substance or character.

Concerned with worldly rather than spiritual interests;

Paper stock ground ready for use. When partly ground, it is called half stuff.

Derived from or composed of matter;

(informal) Used as placeholder, usually for material of unknown type or name.

Directly relevant to a matter especially a law case;

(slang) Narcotic drugs, especially heroin.

Concerned with or affecting physical as distinct from intellectual or psychological well-being;

(obsolete) A medicine or mixture; a potion.

Having material or physical form or substance;

Refuse or worthless matter; hence, also, foolish or irrational language.

Having substance or capable of being treated as fact; not imaginary;

(nautical) A melted mass of turpentine, tallow, etc., with which the masts, sides, and bottom of a ship are smeared for lubrication.

Money.

(transitive) To fill by packing or crowding something into; to cram with something; to load to excess.

(transitive) To fill a space with (something) in a compressed manner.

To fill with seasoning.

(transitive) To load goods into (a container) for transport.

To sate.

(pronominal) To eat, especially in a hearty or greedy manner.

To break; to destroy.

To sexually penetrate.

Used to contemptuously dismiss or reject something. See also stuff it.

(informal) To heavily defeat or get the better of.

(transitive) To cut off another competitor in a race by disturbing his projected and committed racing line (trajectory) by an abrupt manoeuvre.

To preserve a dead bird or other animal by filling its skin.

(transitive) To obstruct, as any of the organs; to affect with some obstruction in the organs of sense or respiration.

(transitive) To form or fashion by packing with the necessary material.

To crowd with facts; to cram the mind of; sometimes, to crowd or fill with false or idle tales or fancies.

To compress (a file or files) in the StuffIt format, to be unstuffed later.

Material which is to be worked up in any process of manufacture.

The fundamental material of which anything is made up; elemental part; essence.

Woven material not made into garments; fabric of any kind; specifically, any one of various fabrics of wool or worsted; sometimes, worsted fiber.

Furniture; goods; domestic vessels or utensils.

A medicine or mixture; a potion.

Refuse or worthless matter; hence, also, foolish or irrational language; nonsense; trash.

A melted mass of turpentine, tallow, etc., with which the masts, sides, and bottom of a ship are smeared for lubrication.

Paper stock ground ready for use.

To fill by crowding something into; to cram with something; to load to excess; as, to stuff a bedtick.

To thrust or crowd; to press; to pack.

To fill by being pressed or packed into.

To fill with a seasoning composition of bread, meat, condiments, etc.; as, to stuff a turkey.

To obstruct, as any of the organs; to affect with some obstruction in the organs of sense or respiration.

To fill the skin of, for the purpose of preserving as a specimen; - said of birds or other animals.

To form or fashion by packing with the necessary material.

To crowd with facts; to cram the mind of; sometimes, to crowd or fill with false or idle tales or fancies.

To put fraudulent votes into (a ballot box).

To feed gluttonously; to cram.

The tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object;

Miscellaneous unspecified objects;

Informal terms for personal possessions;

Senseless talk;

Unspecified qualities required to do or be something;

Information in some unspecified form;

A critically important or characteristic component;

Fill completely;

Press or force;

Obstruct;

Overeat or eat immodestly; make a pig of oneself;

Treat with grease, fill, and prepare for mounting;

Fill tightly with a material;

Fill with a stuffing while cooking;