▪ I. stamping, vbl. n.
(ˈstæmpɪŋ)
[-ing1.]
1. The action of stamp v., in various senses.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce vii. 269 Bot he had schort quhil at the met Sittyn, quhen he herd gret stampyng About the hous. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 781 Quat of stamping of stedis & stering of bernes, All dymed þe dale & þe dust ryses. 1550 Edw. VI Jrnl. in Burnet Hist. Ref. II. ii. ii. (1681) 35 The Lords at London having tryed all kinds of Stamping,..proved that without any loss, but sufferable, the Coin might be brought to eleven ounces fine. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 598 (China) Their Printing is but stamping, like our great Letters or Gaies cut in wood; for they cut many words in one peece, and then stampe it off in paper. 1720 Swift Poems, Irish Feast, A mercy the ground Did not burst with their stamping. 1882 Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework, Stamping..is a method adopted for producing a pattern on cotton, silk, or woollen stuffs, having a stiff raised pile on the face. 1897 Flandrau Harvard Episodes 184 Such a cruel stamping out of youth and strength and happiness at the very beginning. |
¶ The imposition of a stamp tax (on a country).
| 1766 Franklin Exam. Wks. 1887 III. 450 While the stamping of America was under consideration, and before the bill was brought in. |
2. concr. a. pl. The materials pounded or crushed.
| 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. 71 Take the stampings of Crabs after the verjuice is expressed. 1678 Evelyn's Pomona (ed. 5) 403 For Water-cider, take your stampings when you press them from the first liquor, and put them into tubs. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 707 The balls [of iron] are first worked under the forge-hammer; and these stampings being afterwards heated..are passed through the roughing rollers. |
b. An article fashioned by stamping.
| 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6189, Stampings and pressings of iron and steel for a variety of purposes. 1893 Daily News 10 Apr. 6/4 There is a brisk business..in large stampings in the shape of bowls, lard tins, &c. |
c. Ornamentation produced by stamping; stamped work.
| 1889 Amer. Publ. Weekly 30 Mar. 489 The Work is..elegantly bound in imported cloth, gilt edge, with rich stamping in gold and silver. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 281 The fancy stamping all over the brasswork adding also considerably to a handsome appearance. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
stamping-die,
stamping-engine,
stamping hammer,
† stamping-house,
stamping-iron (
= pestle),
stamping-machine,
stamping-mill,
stamping-press,
stamping-rod;
stamping ground orig. U.S., an animal's habitual place of resort; also
transf.;
stamping shop, the ‘shop’ in a needle-factory containing machinery for punching the eyes of needles.
With
stamping-iron cf. OE. stęmping{iacu}sern ‘celon’ (
Wr.-Wülcker 203).
| 1845 Penny Cycl. Suppl. I. 221/2 Above is a press, to the lower end of which is attached the *stamping-die or device, face downwards. |
| 1840 Mechanics' Mag. XXXIII. 504/1 On the *Stamping Engines in Cornwall. |
| 1821 D. Dunklin Let. 25 Dec. in E. C. Barker Austin Papers (1924) I. 456 It is unnecessary to undertake to give you any details of affairs in your old *Stamping⁓ground. 1839 [H. R. Howard] Hist. Virgil A. Stewart 70 (R. H. Thornton Amer. Gloss.) I made my way from Milledgeville to Williamson County, the old stamping-ground. 1862 Harper's Mag. June 34/1, I found myself near one of these ‘stamping grounds’, and a simultaneous roar from five hundred infuriated animals gave notice of my danger. 1883 W. M. Baker New Timothy 176 (Cent.) It's with them fellows as it is with wild animals. You can just keep clear of them if you want, stay far out of their stamping-ground. 1915 E. R. Burroughs Return of Tarzan xxiii. 326 The woman he loved was within a short journey of the stamping-ground of his tribe. 1955 Times 19 Aug. 2/5 Henry Wood used the Proms as a stamping ground for new music because there was little opportunity otherwise for making it known. 1977 J. I. M. Stewart Madonna of Astrolabe iv. 74 Tell Charles Atlas I'd have a go if asked—I suppose as Tutor for Admissions it's his stamping-ground. |
| 1834–6 Barlow in Encycl. Metrop. VIII. 676/2 All but the very largest [utensils] are raised or sunk by the *stamping hammer. |
| 1706 J. Stevens Span.-Eng. Dict. s.v. Plata, [The silver] is cast into Bars, and carry'd to the King's *Stamping-house, where it is try'd, and the Mark set upon it according to its Fineness. |
| 1552 in P. H. Hore Wexford (1901) [II.] 243, 4 *Stamping Irons [for the stamping mill]. 1778 Pryce Min. Cornub. 284 The Tin is..cool enough to sustain the stamping iron. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1162 A *stamping-machine with dies. 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. Stamping Machine, for stamping the soles of boots and shoes with monogram or trade-mark. |
| 1552 in P. H. Hore Wexford (1901) [II.] 243, 2 gret pecs of Iron for the *stampying myll. 1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall 27 A stamping mill, worked by steam, was erected at the very bottom of the excavation. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Stamping-press, a press for imprinting, by a sunken die, bills of lading, notes, envelopes, drafts, etc.; [also] a crushing mill for ores. |
| 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. III. 55 The rags, after macerating for many days.., were beaten by means of *stamping-rods shod with iron..; these worked in strong oak or stone mortars. |
| 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6449, The wires are taken to the ‘*stamping shop’, where the first germ of an eye is given to each half of every wire. |
▪ II. stamping, ppl. a. (
ˈstæmpɪŋ)
[-ing2.] That stamps with the feet; characterized by stamping with the feet. Hence
ˈstampingly adv.| 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. E 2, One as if he had ben playning a clay floore stampingly trode the stage so harde with his feete, that [etc.]. 1596 ― Saffron Walden O 2, Hee cald all the World asses..with the stampingest cursing and tearing he could vtter it. 1599 Breton Wil of Wit (Grosart) 18/2 The gallant shewe of stamping steeds. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 166 ¶8 The Stamping Dances of the West-Indians or Hottentots. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 876 A stamping movement of the foot. 1903 Kipling Five Nations, White Horses vi, By day with stamping squadrons,..Creep up the wise White Horses. |