(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
You can use ~ to refer to things such as a substance, a collection of things, events, or ideas, or the contents of something in a general way without mentioning the thing itself by name. (INFORMAL)
I’d like some coffee, and I don’t object to the powdered ~ if it’s all you’ve got...
‘What do you want to know?’—‘About life and ~.’...
He pointed to a duffle bag.‘That’s my ~.’
N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp
2.
If you ~ something somewhere, you push it there quickly and roughly.
I ~ed my hands in my pockets...
He ~ed the newspapers into a litter bin and headed down the street...
= shove
VERB: V n prep/adv, V n prep/adv
3.
If you ~ a container or space with something, you fill it with something or with a quantity of things until it is full.
He grabbed my purse, opened it and ~ed it full, then gave it back to me...
He still stood behind his cash register ~ing his mouth with popcorn.
= cram
VERB: V n adj, V n with n
4.
If you ~ yourself, you eat a lot of food. (INFORMAL)
I could ~ myself with ten chocolate bars and half an hour later eat a big meal.
VERB: V pron-refl prep
~ed
But you’re just so ~ed you won’t be able to drink anything.
ADJ: v-link ADJ
5.
If you ~ a bird such as a chicken or a vegetable such as a pepper, you put a mixture of food inside it before cooking it.
Will you ~ the turkey and shove it in the oven for me?
...~ed tomatoes.
VERB: V n, V-ed
6.
If a dead animal is ~ed, it is filled with a substance so that it can be preserved and displayed.
VERB: usu passive
7.
Stuff is used in front of nouns to emphasize that you do not care about something, or do not want it. (INFORMAL)
Ultimately my attitude was: ~ them...
Stuff your money. We don’t want a handout.
VERB: only imper, V n, V n emphasis
8.
If you say that someone knows their ~, you mean that they are good at doing something because they know a lot about it. (INFORMAL)
These chaps know their ~ after seven years of war.
PHRASE: V inflects approval