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Note 1 - Nature of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details Textual) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Nov. 28, 2020 USD ($) shares	Nov. 30, 2019 USD ($) shares	Dec. 01, 2018 USD ($) shares	Dec. 01, 2019 USD ($)
Number of Countries in which Entity Operates	35
Number of Reportable Segments	3	5
Rebates	$ 34,860	$ 22,795	$ 21,265
Cash Surrender Value of Life Insurance	9,006	5,062
Equity Securities without Readily Determinable Fair Value, Impairment Loss, Annual Amount	0	0	0
Equity Securities without Readily Determinable Fair Value, Amount	1,669	1,667
Interest Costs Capitalized	$ 565	$ 416	$ 285
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life (Year)	17 years	17 years
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent, Total	$ 2,948	$ 2,952
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share, Amount (in shares) \| shares	3,982,275	2,951,697	1,905,411
Share-based Payment Arrangement, Shares Withheld for Tax Withholding Obligation (in shares) \| shares	72,000	73,043	71,181
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset	$ 28,445	$ 0
Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit), Ending Balance	$ 1,474,406	$ 1,384,411
Accounting Standards Update 2016-02 [Member]
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset				$ 28,254
Operating Lease, Liability, Total				$ 28,254
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 [Member]
Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit), Ending Balance			$ 1,776
Accounting Standard Update 2016-16 [Member]
Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit), Ending Balance			$ 733
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 (Year)	3 years
Maximum [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life (Year)	20 years
Building and Building Improvements [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life (Year)	20 years
Building and Building Improvements [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life (Year)	40 years
Machinery and Equipment [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life (Year)	3 years
Machinery and Equipment [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life (Year)	20 years
Sekisui Fuller Company Ltd [Member]
Equity Method Investment, Ownership Percentage	50.00%
Revenue Benchmark [Member] \| Hygiene, Health, and Consumable Adhesives [Member]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	48.00%
Revenue Benchmark [Member] \| Engineering Adhesives [Member]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	39.00%
Revenue Benchmark [Member] \| Construction Adhesives [Member]
Concentration Risk, Percentage	13.00%