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Note 1 - Nature of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details Textual) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Nov. 30, 2019 USD ($) shares	Dec. 01, 2018 USD ($) shares	Dec. 02, 2017 USD ($) shares	Dec. 01, 2019 USD ($)
Number of Countries in which Entity Operates	32
Number of Operating Segments	5
Rebates	$ 22,795	$ 21,265	$ 18,158
Percentage of LIFO Inventory	25.70%
Cash Surrender Value of Life Insurance	$ 5,062	5,048
Equity Securities without Readily Determinable Fair Value, Impairment Loss, Annual Amount		0	0
Equity Securities without Readily Determinable Fair Value, Amount	1,667	1,669
Interest Costs Capitalized	$ 416	$ 285	$ 306
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	17 years	17 years
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent, Total	$ 2,952	$ 3,646
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share, Amount \| shares	2,951,697	1,905,411	163,140
Share-based Payment Arrangement, Shares Withheld for Tax Withholding Obligation \| shares	73,043	71,181	56,230
Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit), Ending Balance	$ 1,384,411	$ 1,286,289
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 [Member]
Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit), Ending Balance		1,776
Accounting Standards Update 2016-16 [Member]
Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit), Ending Balance		$ 733
Accounting Standards Update 2016-15 [Member] \| Reclassification of Debt Prepayment and Extinguishment Costs From Operating to Financing Cash Outflows [Member]
Prior Period Reclassification Adjustment	25,535
Prior Period Reclassification Adjustment, Net Of Tax	$ 16,598
Accounting Standards Update 2016-02 [Member] \| Subsequent Event [Member]
Operating Lease, Liability, Total				$ 27,000
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset				$ 27,000
Defined Benefit Plan, Equity Securities [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan, Plan Assets, Target Allocation, Percentage	60.00%
Fixed Income Funds [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan, Plan Assets, Target Allocation, Percentage	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%
Revenue Benchmark [Member] \| Americas Adhesives [Member]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	35.00%
Revenue Benchmark [Member] \| EIMEA [Member]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	22.00%
Revenue Benchmark [Member] \| Asia Pacific [Member]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	9.00%
Revenue Benchmark [Member] \| Construction Adhesives [Member]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	14.00%
Revenue Benchmark [Member] \| Engineering Adhesives [Member]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	20.00%