Rebates offered on sales.

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Securities (including those issuable pursuant to contingent stock agreements) that could potentially dilute basic earnings per share (EPS) or earnings per unit (EPU) in the future that were not included in the computation of diluted EPS or EPU because to do so would increase EPS or EPU amounts or decrease loss per share or unit amounts for the period presented.

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Noncurrent portion of the carrying amount of a liability for an asset retirement obligation. An asset retirement obligation is a legal obligation associated with the disposal or retirement of a tangible long-lived asset that results from the acquisition, construction or development, or the normal operations of a long-lived asset, except for certain obligations of lessees.

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Carrying amount as of the balance sheet date of amounts which could be received based on the terms of the insurance contract upon surrendering life policies owned by the entity.

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For an entity that discloses a concentration risk in relation to quantitative amount, which serves as the "benchmark" (or denominator) in the equation, this concept represents the concentration percentage derived from the division.

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Amount, after adjustment, of cost-method investment. Adjustments include, but are not limited to, dividends received in excess of earnings after date of investment that are considered a return of investment and other than temporary impairments.

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Target allocation of investments of this type to total plan assets presented on a weighted average basis.

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The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

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Useful life of finite-lived intangible assets, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

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No definition available.

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Amount of loss from the write-down of an asset representing the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

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Amount of interest capitalized during the period.

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The number of countries in which the entity operates as of balance sheet date.

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Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.

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The percentage of LIFO (last in first out) inventory to total inventory as of the balance sheet date if other than 100 percent.

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No definition available.

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Useful life of long lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days. Examples include, but not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment.

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For net-share settlement of share-based awards when the employer settles employees' income tax withholding obligations, this element represents the number of shares the employees use to repay the employer.

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No definition available.

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Amount of stock repurchase plan authorized.

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Number of shares that have been repurchased during the period and have not been retired and are not held in treasury. Some state laws may govern the circumstances under which an entity may acquire its own stock and prescribe the accounting treatment therefore. This element is used when state law does not recognize treasury stock.

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Equity impact of the value of stock that has been repurchased during the period and has not been retired and is not held in treasury. Some state laws may mandate the circumstances under which an entity may acquire its own stock and prescribe the accounting treatment therefore. This element is used when state law does not recognize treasury stock.

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Note 1 - Nature of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details Textual) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 03, 2016	Nov. 28, 2015	Nov. 29, 2014	Dec. 03, 2106	Sep. 30, 2010
Number of Countries in which Entity Operates	38
Number of Operating Segments	5
Rebates	$ 16,465	$ 13,951	$ 12,428
Percentage of LIFO Inventory				40.00%
Cash Surrender Value of Life Insurance	5,120	5,915
Cost Method Investments	1,666	1,666
Interest Costs Capitalized	752	136	$ 2,725
Goodwill, Impairment Loss	$ 777
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	15 years	15 years
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent	$ 2,264	$ 2,274
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share, Amount	657,439	887,672	421,810
Shares Paid for Tax Withholding for Share Based Compensation	67,807	54,454	67,593
Stock Repurchased During Period, Shares	500,000	500,000	250,000
Stock Repurchased During Period, Value	$ 23,228	$ 19,290	$ 15,510
2010 Share Repurchase Program [Member]
Stock Repurchase Program, Authorized Amount	$ 100,000				$ 100,000
Stock Repurchased During Period, Shares	500,000	500,000	250,000
Stock Repurchased During Period, Value	$ 20,861	$ 17,066	$ 12,254
Equity Securities [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan, Target Plan Asset Allocations	60.00%
Fixed Income Funds [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan, Target Plan Asset Allocations	40.00%
Minimum [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	3 years
Maximum [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	20 years
Building and Building Improvements [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life	20 years
Building and Building Improvements [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life	40 years
Machinery and Equipment [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life	3 years
Machinery and Equipment [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life	20 years
Sekisui Fuller Company Ltd [Member]
Equity Method Investment, Ownership Percentage	50.00%
Sales Revenue, Goods, Net [Member] \| Americas Adhesives [Member]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	38.00%
Sales Revenue, Goods, Net [Member] \| EIMEA [Member]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	26.00%
Sales Revenue, Goods, Net [Member] \| Asia Pacific [Member]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	12.00%
Sales Revenue, Goods, Net [Member] \| Construction Products [Member]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	12.00%
Sales Revenue, Goods, Net [Member] \| Engineering Adhesives [Member]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	12.00%