stampede

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See also: Stampede

English

WOTD – 5 July 2024

Etymology

A stampede (noun sense 1) of horses.

The noun is derived from Mexican Spanish estampida (“a stampede”), from Spanish estampida, estampido (“a bang, a crack (sound)”), from Old Occitan estampida, from Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌼𐍀𐌾𐌰𐌽 (stampjan), from Proto-Germanic *stampōną (“to compress, squeeze; to stamp”), from Proto-Indo-European *stembʰ- (“to trample down”).

The verb is derived from the noun.

Pronunciation

Noun

stampede (plural stampedes) (originally US)

  2. A wild, headlong running away or scamper of a number of animals, usually caused by fright.
    Synonyms: crush, flight, jam, rush, (obsolete) stampedo, trampling
    • a. 1865 (date written), Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter XVIII, in Julian Hawthorne, editor, Doctor Grimshawe’s Secret: A Romance , Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, published 1883, →OCLC, page 227:
      [T]hey saw a herd of deer reposing, who, on their appearance, rose from their recumbent position, and began to gaze warily at the strangers; then, tossing their horne, they set off on a stampede, but only swept round, and settled down not far from where they were.
    • 1912 January, Zane Grey, “The Mill-wheel of Steers”, in Riders of the Purple Sage , New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, page 78:
      Then like a stream of white bees pouring from a huge swarm, the steers stretched out from the main body. In a few moments, with astonishing rapidity, the whole herd got into motion. […] "It's a stampede, an' a hummer," said Lassiter. […] ["]That stampede will pass within a mile of us."
  3. (by extension)
    1. A situation in which many people in a crowd are trying to move in the same direction at the same time, especially in consequence of a panic.
      Synonyms: crush, rush
      The annual Muslim Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which is attended by millions of pilgrims, has increasingly suffered from stampedes.
      • 1912 October, Jack London, “The Stampede to Squaw Creek”, in Smoke Bellew, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co, →OCLC, page 75:
        Say, Smoke, this ain't no stampede. It's a exode-us. They must be a thousand men ahead of us an' ten thousand behind.
      • 2019 October, Chris Stokes, “Between the Lines”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 97:
        I asked the conductor if he would ask Chester to hold the 16.35 to Euston—the last through train on a Saturday—but he said Virgin won't hold anything. We came to a stand at Chester at 16.35, and there was a sizeable stampede down the platform for the London train, but it had gone.
    2. (Canada, US) An event at which cowboy skills are displayed; a rodeo.
  4. (figurative) A sudden unconcerted acting together of a number of persons due to, or as if due to, some common impulse.
    a stampede toward US bonds in the credit markets
    • 1873, William Black, “Sheila’s Stratagem”, in A Princess of Thule. , New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 299:
      So all the people, Sheila learned that night, were going away from London; and soon she and her husband would join in the general stampede of the very last dwellers in town.
    • 2023 March 22, Philip Oltermann, “Switzerland’s national pride dealt heavy blow by the merger of its banking titans”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-11-07:
      When the Credit Suisse's top investor, Saudi National Bank, told reporters last Wednesday it would not give more money to the bank, investors and depositors started a stampede for the exit, withdrawing hundreds of millions of dollars.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → German: Stampede

Translations

event at which cowboy skills are displayed — see rodeo

Verb

stampede (third-person singular simple present stampedes, present participle stampeding, simple past and past participle stampeded)

  1. (transitive)
    1. To cause (a drove or herd of animals) to run away or scamper in a wild, headlong manner, usually due to fright.
    2. To cause animals (owned by a person) to run away or scamper in this manner.
      Synonym: (obsolete) stampedo
    3. (by extension) To cause (people in a crowd) to move in the same direction at the same time, especially due to panic.
    4. (by extension) To cause (an individual) to act hastily or rashly.
    5. (figurative) To cause (people) to act in a sudden unconcerted manner due to, or as if due to, some common impulse.
  2. (intransitive)
    1. Of a drove or herd of animals: to run away or scamper in a wild, headlong manner, usually due to fright.
      • 1912 January, Zane Grey, “The Mill-wheel of Steers”, in Riders of the Purple Sage , New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, page 69:
        Miss Withersteen, let me get what boys I can gather, an' hold the white herd. It's on the slope now, not ten miles out—three thousand head, an' all steers. They're wild, an' likely to stampede at the pop of a jack-rabbit's ears.
    2. (by extension) Of people in a crowd: to move in the same direction at the same time, especially due to panic.
      • 2020 May 20, Stefanie Foster, “Comment: Safety First: Now More than Ever”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3:
        But here in the UK, we tend to stampede from the concourse the moment the platform number is announced for the train we want to catch, crush round the doors, and then launch ourselves into the first available seat before our fellow passengers can take them all.
    3. (figurative) Of people: to act in a sudden unconcerted manner due to, or as if due to, some common impulse.

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References

  1. ^ “stampede, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “stampede, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “stampede, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “stampede, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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