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Small stuff   /smɔl stəf/   Listen
noun
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." "Ambitions should be made of sterner stuff." "The workman on his stuff his skill doth show, And yet the stuff gives not the man his skill."
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."
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?" "It (the arras) was of stuff and silk mixed, though, superior kinds were of silk exclusively."
4.
Furniture; goods; domestic vessels or utensils. "He took away locks, and gave away the king's stuff."
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."
7.
(Naut.) A melted mass of turpentine, tallow, etc., with which the masts, sides, and bottom of a ship are smeared for lubrication.
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.
Stuff gown, the distinctive garb of a junior barrister; hence, a junior barrister himself. See Silk gown, under Silk.


adjective
Small  adj.  (compar. smaller; superl. smallest)  
1.
Having little size, compared with other things of the same kind; little in quantity or degree; diminutive; not large or extended in dimension; not great; not much; inconsiderable; as, a small man; a small river. "To compare Great things with small."
2.
Being of slight consequence; feeble in influence or importance; unimportant; trivial; insignificant; as, a small fault; a small business.
3.
Envincing little worth or ability; not large-minded; sometimes, in reproach, paltry; mean. "A true delineation of the smallest man is capable of interesting the greatest man."
4.
Not prolonged in duration; not extended in time; short; as, after a small space.
5.
Weak; slender; fine; gentle; soft; not loud. "A still, small voice."
Great and small,of all ranks or degrees; used especially of persons. "His quests, great and small."
Small arms, muskets, rifles, pistols, etc., in distinction from cannon.
Small beer. See under Beer.
Small coal.
(a)
Little coals of wood formerly used to light fires.
(b)
Coal about the size of a hazelnut, separated from the coarser parts by screening.
Small craft (Naut.), a vessel, or vessels in general, of a small size.
Small fruits. See under Fruit.
Small hand, a certain size of paper. See under Paper.
Small hours. See under Hour.
Small letter. (Print.), a lower-case letter. See Lower-case, and Capital letter, under Capital, a.
Small piece, a Scotch coin worth about 2¼d. sterling, or about 4½cents.
Small register. See the Note under 1st Register, 7.
Small stuff (Naut.), spun yarn, marline, and the smallest kinds of rope.
Small talk, light or trifling conversation; chitchat.
Small wares (Com.), various small textile articles, as tapes, braid, tringe, and the like.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Small stuff" Quotes from Famous Books



... hard gales of wind at west, with rain and hail; drove ashore three barrels of flour and abundance of small stuff out of the ship; took up a-long shore several pieces of pork and beef: John Anderson, a seaman, walking round the rocks, and reaching after a piece of beef, slipping his footing, was drown'd, but taken up directly, ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 17 • Robert Kerr
... good one. And a black bear too, and a moose, and some sheep, and a lot of small stuff like that. They're hunters and travelers. We gave them a 'lob-stick' to mark their journey—far ...
— The Young Alaskans on the Trail • Emerson Hough
... was dug in the ground, with a frontage toward the wind. When this was pronounced deep enough a fire was carefully kindled in it, and fed with small stuff until it could take stronger food. So by degrees the depression became filled with red cinders, sending off a tremendous heat, yet not showing more than fifty feet away. An enemy might pass it by twice that distance, without ...
— The Banner Boy Scouts on a Tour - The Mystery of Rattlesnake Mountain • George A. Warren
... placed in the square screen box, and then with one hand the miner would rock the cradle while he poured water with the other from a dipper to wash the earth. After he had poured on enough water and shaken the box sufficiently to pass all the small stuff through he would stir over what remained in the screen box, examining carefully for a nugget too large to pass through the half inch holes. If the miner found that the dirt did not pay he took his rocker on his back and went on in ...
— Death Valley in '49 • William Lewis Manly
... out and stop it just for a minute, and then let it go again. I wished rainy days might not come often, though I fully expected that they would. About 3 P.M. I heard a stir outside and going out found George and Gilbert making a fire. It was not so simple a matter now without an axe. The small stuff had to be broken, and then whole trees were dragged bodily to the spot and laid on to be burned off a piece at a time. When fallen stuff was scarce, standing dead trees were by hard labour pushed over and brought in. The big fire felt ...
— A Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador • Mina Benson Hubbard (Mrs. Leonidas Hubbard, Junior)


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