Stuffing box, a device for rendering a joint impervious where there is
a hole through which a movable cylindrical body, as the paston rod of a
steam engine, or the plunger of a pump, slides back and forth, or in
which a shaft turns. It usually consists of a box or chamber, made by
an enlargement of part of the hole, forming a space around the rod or
shaft for containing packing which is compressed and made to fill the
space closely by means of a sleeve, called the gland, which fits
loosely around the rod, and is pressed upon the packing by bolts or
other means.
Stuff"y (?), a. 1. Stout; mettlesome; resolute. [Scot.] Jamieson.