▪ I. † stamp, n.1 Obs. rare.
Also 4 staumpe.
[ad. OF. estampie, corresp. to Pr., Sp., Pg. estampida, It. stampita song with accompaniment, also noise, f. Pr. estampir to resound, perh. cogn. w. Pr. estampar stamp v.]
Some kind of dance-music.
| 13.. Sir Beues 3908 Ȝhe hadde lerned of minstralcie, Vpon a fiþele for to play Staumpes, notes, garibles gay. c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 5573 For ther wer..Songes, stampes, and eke daunces, Dyuers plente of plesaunces. |
▪ II. † stamp, n.2 Obs. rare—1.
[Altered form of stank n.] A stank, pool (of water).
| 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 288 Sir James of Beauchamp..In a water stampe he was dronkled fleand. |
▪ III. stamp, n.3 (
stæmp)
[Partly f. stamp v., and partly ad. MF. estampe (mod.F. estampe, étampe), vbl. n. f. estamper: see stamp v.] I. An act of stamping.
1. a. A forcible downward blow with the foot.
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 25 So at his sight, away his fellowes flye, And at our stampe, here ore and ore one fals. 1626 Middleton Women Beware Women v. i, When thou hear'st me give a stamp, down with't. 1718 Free-thinker No. 17. 116 She rises with a Stamp and a loud Crack of her Fan. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm. xxxv, The repeated stamps of the heel of his heavy boot. 1827 Hone Every day Bk. II. 467 The ‘tipsy toss’ of that actor's head, his rollocking look, his stamps..were worth the entirety of the drama. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 481 A dance..which consists of a wriggle and a stamp. |
b. Fencing.
| 1705 H. Blackwell Engl. Fencing-Master 16 For every Longe that is made, the Right Foot comes with a Stamp. 1809 Roland Fencing 100 Observe, that in making the appel or stamp, that it should be done upon a firm, steady position of the guard. |
† 2. A blow with the pestle in pounding.
Obs.| 1598 Epulario D j, Put it into a morter to beat, but giue it but two stampes. |
3. Dicing. (See
quot. 1777.)
| 1772 Foote Nabob ii. (1778) 28 Seven, Sir is better nicked by a stamp... When you want to throw six and four..you must take the long gallery, and whirl the dice to the end of the table. 1777 [T. Swift] Gamblers 22 note, The Stamp is, when the caster, with a certain elastic spring of the wrist, rappeth the cornet or box with vehemence on the table, the dice not as yet appearing from under the box. |
4. A place where horses stand (
cf. stamping ground:
stamping vbl. n.).
U.S. rare.
| 1791 W. Bartram Carolina 355 A grand forest..which we penetrated on foot a little distance to a horse-stamp. |
II. An instrument for stamping.
5. a. An instrument for making impressions, marks, or imprints, on other bodies; a stamping-tool, an engraved block or die for impressing a mark, figure, design or the like, upon a softer material.
In
quot. 1465
perh. = a branding-iron.
| 1465 Finchale Priory Charters etc. (Surtees) p. ccxcix, j hewyryn, j stampe, ij ponchonz [etc.]. 1548 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. IX. 281 Item for ane stampe maid to my lorde governour. 1564 Extracts Burgh Rec. Edin. (1875) III. 187 That thair be maid ane stamp and the tounis armis thairapoun [for stamping cloth]. 1644 Docq. Lett. Pat. at Oxf. (1837) 123 To make and engraue Irons and Stampes with his Majestys Effigies..and therewith to instampe and inprint all such Ingott Bullyon and plate of Gold. 1751 Act 24 Geo. II, c. 31. §21 Every Maker and Cutter of Stamps or Seals of any Kind for stamping of Cloth. 1827 Scott Surg. Dau. v, No, no—my old silver stamp, with the double G upon it, will serve my turn. 1837 R. Hill Post Office Reform 35 The marks being given by a tell-tale stamp, which would count the letters. Ibid. 58 It would be quite practicable to construct a stamp which at one blow should impress both the date and the required charge [etc.]. 1891 Sloane Rubber Hand Stamps xiv. (1900) 113 Stamps made from a mixture of glue, glycerine, and molasses..are adopted by the United States government for making dating stamps for use in the Post Office Department. 1904 Budge 3rd & 4th Egypt. Rooms Brit. Mus. 109 A collection of wooden stamps used by plasterers and brickmakers. |
b. esp. A die or the apparatus used in stamping a device upon a coin, token, medal or the like.
| 1572–3 in Swayne Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896) 287 Altering of the stampe and striking of y⊇ tokins 6d. 1575 Fenton Gold. Epist. (1582) 280 In it was alwayes kept the stampe or minte of all the monie that serued the prouince. 1600 [see seal n.2 3]. 1614 Camden Rem. (ed. 2) 203 Mendlesham in Suffolke..held in fee to make the coyning stampes seruing for all England. 1662 Pepys Diary 24 Nov., Mr. Slingsby did show the King..the stamps of the new money that is now to be made by Blondeau's fashion. |
c. transf. and
fig.| 1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. ii. 111 His Sword, Deaths stampe, Where it did marke, it tooke from face to foot. 1645 Waller Loving at first sight Poems 82 Some other Nymph with colours faint And pencil slow may Cupid paint..; She has a stamp and prints the Boy. |
d. Printers' slang. (See
quot.)
| 1875 Southward Dict. Typogr., Stamp, a colloquial synonym for types. Stamps, types. A common expression in the printing-office is ‘picking up stamps’, i.e. composing. 1888 in Jacobi Printers' Vocab. |
† 6. ? A printing press.
to put (a book) to stamp: to print (it).
Obs.| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 186 b, It will neuer be better as long as thei haue the letters and stampes, therefore it wer best for your lordshippe to bye the stampes to. Ibid. 221 b, A greate boke..in a faire hand, redy to bee a copie to the printer, when the saied boke should be put to stampe. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden L 4 b, The Doctor had some ierking Hexameters or other shortly after to passe the stampe. 1603 Daniel Def. Ryme G 3, That mightie confluence of Learning..which,..heere meeting then with the new inuented stampe of Printing, spread it selfe [etc.]. |
7. A bookbinder's tool for embossing bindings. Also
transf. an ornament produced by this.
| 1811 Art Bookbinding 40 A tool, or stamp, may be added between the bands, emblematic of the subject. 1818 Ibid. 2 Brass tools... Ornamental stamps and volume stamps. 1875 in Knight Dict. Mech. |
8. A machine for shaping articles made of sheet-metal; a drop-hammer, stamping-machine.
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 999 Every one [of the shaped vessels of plated metal] of simple form is now made in dies struck with a drop-hammer or stamp. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 263/1 It will be long before the ‘old process of casting’ is superseded by the stamp and die. |
9. a. An iron-shod pestle of a mill for crushing ores,
esp. each of the several pestles, usually five in number, forming the battery of a stamp-mill; chiefly in
pl., a battery of stamps, a stamp-mill.
| 1674 Ray Collect. Words, Smelting Silver 116 The slags or cinders of the first smelting they beat small with great stamps lifted up by a wheel moved with water, and falling by their own weight. 1875 J. H. Collins Princ. Metal Mining 107 The ore being broken down about the size of road stone, is now in a fit state for the action of the ‘stamps’. 1901 Munsey's Mag. XXV. 662/2 A quartz mill..with a varying number of stamps—beams of iron that are lifted and let fall in a sort of long mortar, in which are thrown the ore, water, and quicksilver. |
b. Maize that has been crushed or pounded with a wooden pestle.
S. Afr. Cf. stamp mealies, sense 20 below, and
samp.
| 1923 S. Afr. Pioneer Dec. 143/2 All partook freely of the feast of meat and stamp. 1976 J. McClure Rogue Eagle vi. 112 The price of mealie stamp in Maseru. |
10. A machine for pounding hides to soften them. (
Cf. stamper 3 d.)
11. slang. pl. (See
quots.)
| 1567 Harman Caveat (1869) 82 Stampes, legges. 1609 Dekker Lanth. & Candle Lt. c iij b, He sweares To put our stamps in the Harmans. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Stamps, legs. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Stamps, shoes. |
III. The result of stamping.
12. The mark, impression, or imprint made with an engraved block or die.
a. An impressed mark used to certify or give validity to a document; an official mark certifying the quality or genuineness of goods.
| 1542 Acts Privy Council (1837) VII. 324 A lettre was sent under the stampe to the President and Cownsell in the northe for the giving to Sir Richarde Long his oth. 1545 in Rymer Fœdera XV. 81/2 Such Warrants as our said Counsail..shall undre our Stamp being sealed wyth our Signet, make [etc.]. 1578 Extracts Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1870) I. 76 Thair wechtis..to be maid of bras, and markit with the tovnis stamp. 1621 in Foster Eng. Factories India (1906) I. 263, I having first told over all the bars of lead and carefully taken the contents of each bar according to the stampe marked on them. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull i. iv, He sold goods, that were not marketable without the stamp. 1726 Act 13 Geo. I, c. 26. §19 It shall..be lawful to..the said Trustees [for the Linen Manufacture]..from Time to Time to direct such Stamp or Stamps to be made use of, as they shall think proper. 1771 Junius Lett. xlix. (1820) 254 The King had..affixed his stamp and given it currency among his subjects. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. II. 126 The refiner has to deliver his opinion on a large mass of silver, and to attest its quality by a stamp. 1875 Fortnum Maiolica i. 10 Remains of furnaces and fragments of Roman time and tiles with the stamp of Theodoric. |
b. The design or combination of marks stamped by authority on a piece of metal in the process of minting or coining into money; the impressed design characteristic of a particular issue of coins of a certain value.
| 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 211 The double ducades..are diminisshed of the goodnesse of their golde, with the stampe of youre maiestye chaunged. 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 322/2 To coyne monie: to giue it the stampe. Ibid. 330/1 A crosse penie, so called of the stampe which it bare, being a crosse. 1628 in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1909) III. 241 All rup[ees] of Noor Jehann Beagams stampe are called in and not to bee uttered. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. A 2, A Patron..whose Name in the Front, like a Princes stamp upon Lead, might give authority and make it currant coyne. 1665 Glanvill Scepsis Sci. xxii. 139 The Stamp of Authority can make Leather as current as Gold. 1696 B. Kennett Romæ Antiq. Notitia ii. v. xiii. (1717) 372 Afterwards it had on one side the Beak of a Ship, on the other a Janus, and such were the Stamps of the As. 1712 J. Morton Nat. Hist. Northamptonsh. 500 Eight or Nine [coins] of this very Prince of different Stamps. 1871 C. Davies Metric Syst. iii. 150 The dollar, under its new stamp, has preserved its name and circulation. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 724/2 There are two distinct stages in the introduction of coining. In the first, only the quality or fineness of the metal is denoted by the stamp... In other words, the stamp acts as a kind of hall-mark... The second step was to certify the weight as well as the fineness of the metal. |
| in figurative context. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. i. 4 Such attribution should the Dowglas haue, As not a Souldiour of this seasons stampe, Should go so generall currant through the world. 1603 ― Meas. for M. ii. iv. 46. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. iii. xi. (1695) 293 For Words..being no Man's private possession, but the common measure of Commerce and Communication, 'tis not for any one, at pleasure, to change the Stamp they are current in. 1781 Cowper Anti-Thelyph. 156 Vice passing current by the stamp of law. 1795 Burns For a' that i, The rank is but the guinea's stamp—The man's the gowd for a' that. |
c. gen. Applied,
e.g., to a postmark.
| 1661 H. Bishopp in Hendy Hist. Postmarks (1905) Introd. 3 A stamp is invented, that is putt upon every letter shewing the day of the moneth that every letter comes to the office. 1867 A. J. Wilson Vashti xxix, My letters always came back unopened, and bearing the London stamp. |
13. In various figurative applications.
a. A certifying or distinguishing mark or imprint.
| 1611 Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 366 Cym. Guiderius had Vpon his necke a Mole... Bel. This is he, Who hath vpon him still that naturall stampe. a 1646 J. Burroughes Exp. Hosea viii. (1652) 289 When God hath set his stamp upon any thing, wee must take heed wee presume not to set our own stamp. 1781 Cowper Expost. 685 Blessings..giv'n Mark'd with the signature and stamp of heav'n, The word of prophesy. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam 1060 Truth its radiant stamp Has fixed..Upon her children's brow. 1874 Sayce Compar. Philol. vi. 227 Conventional custom sets its stamp upon spoken speech. |
b. The imprint or sign (
of what is specified).
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. ix. 39 For who shall goe about To cosen Fortune, and be honourable Without the stamp of merit. 1609 Heywood Troia Brit. xii. l. 314 Great Hector..fals vpon the next Greeke that he finds, And prints on him the bloudy stamp of death. a 1684 Leighton Comm. 1 Pet. i. 10–12 (1693) 113 It carries the lively stamp of divine Inspiration. 1781 Cowper Hope 153 Hope sets the stamp of vanity on all That men have deem'd substantial since the fall. 1839 Thirlwall Greece VI. lii. 271 In its leading outlines it bears the stamp of truth. 1891 F. Hall in Nation (N.Y.) LII. 297/2 Everything that had passed before me bore, to my apprehension, the stamp of intellectual obliquity. |
c. ‘Value derived from suffrage or attestation; authority, currency’ (J.).
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. Ded., Your auspicuous Fauour, shall leaue a greater stampe to the Worke. 1686 W. Hopkins tr. Ratramnus Dissert. iii. (1688) 53 Paschasius his Doctrine had not received as yet the stamp of publick Authority. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. Introd. 13 There is not one single witty Phrase,..which hath not received the Stamp and Approbation of at least one hundred Years. 1803 Syd. Smith Wks. (1859) I. 19/1 The uproar even, and the confusion and the clamour of a popular election in England have their use: they give a stamp to the names, Liberty, Constitution, and People. |
d. simply: Imprint, impression, mark.
| a 1652 J. Smith Sel. Disc. iv. 69 They are apt to acquire such deep stamps of material phantasms to themselves, that they cannot imagine their own being to be any other than material and divisible. 1673 Dryden Marr. à la Mode iv. i, You aggravate my griefs, and print them deeper In new and heavier stamps. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam iv. viii. 2 The dead, who leave the stamp Of ever-burning thoughts on many a page. 1822 ― Triumph Life 409 The wolf..Leaves his stamp visibly upon the shore. 1838 Carlyle Misc. (1857) IV. 206 Rahel Varnhagen von Ense..did not write... She left no stamp of herself on paper. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. (1872) II. 29 The stamp of each new impression helps to obliterate a former one. |
e. Character, kind; fashion, make; cast, type.
| 1573 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 9, I cannot tel how mani mo of this stamp frivolus and dogged iests. 1575 Gascoigne Glass of Govt. Wks. 1910 II. 37 Is shee of the right stampe? 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. ¶13 When the aboue named Radulphus happened to be at Rome, he found all the bookes to be new (of the new stampe). 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. iii. 67 But certainly false it is what is commonly affirmed [etc.]... Of the same stampe is that which is obtruded upon us by Authors..that an Adamant [etc.]. 1666 Boyle Orig. Forms & Qual. 44, I would be understood to mean by it [Forme], not a real Substance distinct from Matter, but onely the Matter it selfe of a Natural Body, consider'd with its peculiar manner of Existence, which..may..be call'd.., if you would have me expresse it in one word, its Stamp. 1709 Hearne Collect. 1 Sept. (O.H.S.) II. 247 'Tis likely he is of the true Stamp for Principles. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. i. i, His acquaintance give him a very different character among creatures of another stamp. 1796 Burke Let. to Dudley North Corr. IV. 551 He was exactly what we conceive of an English nobleman of the old stamp. 1831 D. E. Williams Life & Corr. Sir T. Lawrence II. 382 Men whose different stamps of genius and characters of intellect, were more singularly calculated to view their subjects through curious and diversified media. 1869 Lecky Europ. Mor. I. i. 161 Men of the stamp of a Washington or a Hampden. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 322 He struck a blow which showed that a general of a new stamp had appeared upon the scene. |
f. Physical or outward form, cast.
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. (1598) 343 A yong maid, truly of the finest stamp of beautie. 1607 Shakes. Cor. i. vi. 23 Com. Whose yonder. That doe's appeare as he were Flead? O Gods, He has the stampe of Martius. a 1704 T. Brown 1st Sat. Persius Wks. (1730) I. 53 A strange..birth: A glimpse of human stamp it has, the rest Is serpent fish and bird. 1877 A. B. Edwards Up Nile xxi. 630 These early European settlers are seen with the Asiatic stamp of features. |
14. a. An embossed or impressed mark placed by a government office on paper or parchment to certify that the duty chargeable in respect of what is thereon written or printed has been paid. Hence also, in recent times, an adhesive label (printed with a distinctive device) which is issued by the government for a fixed amount, and which when affixed to a document or other dutiable object serves the same purpose as an impressed stamp.
| 1694 Act 5 & 6 Will. & Mary c. 21. §5 [Stamp Act] And the said Commissioners shall..provide Six severall Markes or Stamps..for the severall and respective dutyes hereby granted with which severall Markes or Stamps all Velum Paper and Parchment upon which any of the severall and respective thinges herein before charged shall be ingrossed or written shall be stampt and impressed. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 445 ¶1, I am afraid that few of our weekly historians..will be able to subsist under the weight of a stamp. 1712 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 7 Aug., Have you seen the red stamp the papers are marked with? Methinks the stamping is worth a halfpenny. 1713 ― Imit. Hor. Ep. i. vii. 43 Of late indeed the Paper-Stamp Did very much his Genius cramp. 1802 Med. Jrnl. VIII. 136, I question whether an apothecary, who should make up parcels of ingredients..would not render himself liable to a confiscation..for selling them without stamps. 1817 W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 886 It was holden that it [sc. a marine insurance policy] might be rectified by inserting the true name, without a fresh stamp. 1841 Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. ii, Twenty-one pun five, Roundhand, and nothing for the stamp! There it is, sir, re-ceipted. 1846 Daily News 21 Jan. 4/1 The stamp on newspapers is not like the stamp on Universal Medicine-Bottles, which licenses anything, however false and monstrous. 1881 Besant & Rice Chapl. Fleet i. xiii, Your marriage is entered in my Register; I have the lines on a five-shilling stamp! 1911 Act 1 & 2 Geo. V, c. 55. §7 Subject to the provisions of this [National Insurance] Act, the Insurance Commissioners may make regulations providing for..payment of contributions whether by means of adhesive or other stamps affixed to or impressed upon books or cards, or otherwise. |
b. the Stamps = the Stamp Office. ?
Obs.| 1820 Byron Blues ii. 59 Sir Rich. But this place ―... Lady Bluem. Excuse me—'tis one in the ‘Stamps’: He is made a collector. 1825 Hone Every-day Bk. I. 2 January 1. A close holiday at all public offices except the Excise, Customs, and Stamps. |
c. spec. = postage stamp.
| 1837 R. Hill in Life (1880) I. 271 Perhaps the difficulty [of the sender being unable to re-address the stamped cover purchased by him at the Post Office] might be obviated by using a bit of paper just large enough to bear the stamp, and covered at the back with a glutinous wash, which the bringer might..attach to the back of the letter. 1839 ― (title) On the Collection of Postage by means of Stamps. 1850 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 105, I have little to tell you worth even a penny stamp. 1863 Stamp-Collector's Mag. I. 3/1 We cannot congratulate the designer of our penny and twopenny stamps on the display of any taste. 1896 Punch 7 Mar. 112/3, I have been writing letters broadcast. I prefer stamps to post-cards. |
d. pl. (
U.S. slang.) Money (properly, paper money).
| 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 296 Among the less generally known terms [for ‘money’] are..dyestuffs, charms, and also the more modern designation of stamps. 1876 Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly x, ‘But no Hand, dead or alive, shall ever get hold of my stamps.’ ‘Your stamps?’ ‘My stamps, sir; my greenbacks, my dollars.’ 1885 R. L. & F. Stevenson Dynamiter 195, I have neglected to supply myself with funds;..and without what is coarsely if vigorously called stamps,..it is impossible for me to pass the ocean. |
e. = insurance stamp s.v. insurance 5.
| 1912 [see insurance stamp s.v. insurance 5]. 1946 Act 9 & 10 Geo. VI c. 67. 720 Contributions..are payable by means of adhesive stamps. 1974 Times 6 Feb. 14/2 The qualification test has been simplified for the emergency: a declaration that 26 stamps have been paid within the previous 12 months is enough to entitle people to the full rate for a year. |
f. = trading stamp s.v. trading vbl. n. b.
| 1933 in Parl. Papers 1932–33, Rep. Cttee on Gift Coupons & Trading Stamps 12 (Cmd. 4385) XII. 387 The stamps are given to the customer in proportion to the amount spent and are stuck by him into a collecting book... When the book is full..the stamps may be tendered in exchange for a gift. 1963 J. T. Story Something for Nothing iii. 89 You get a grocer, you get a baker, you get a hairdresser and a chemist and a garage and a draper all giving stamps. 1976 A. Grey Bulgarian Exclusive i. i. 17 The two psychedelic gift mugs the garage..had given them in exchange for seven Heron stamps. |
† 15. Something marked with a device; a coin, medal.
Obs.| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iii. iv. 16, I found thee of more valew Then stampes in Gold, or summes in sealed bagges. 1605 ― Macb. iv. iii. 153 People..The meere dispaire of Surgery, he cures, Hanging a golden stampe about their neckes. 1608–9 Middleton Widow ii. i, I will consume my self to the last stamp, Before thou gett'st me. |
| fig. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iv. ii. 69 Here is the babe as loathsome as a toad,..The Empresse sends it thee, thy stampe, thy seale. 1594 ― Rich. III, i. iii. 256 Queene Mother. Peace Master Marquesse, you are malapert, Your fire-new stampe of Honor is scarce currant. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Ch. Porch lxiv, Man is Gods image; but a poore man is Christs stamp to boot; both images regard. |
† 16. A picture produced by printing from an engraved plate, an engraving, print.
in stamp: by means of engraving. [After
It. stampa, F.
estampe.]
Obs.| 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage v. ii. (1614) 463 He that will not onely reade, but in manner see,..may resort to Theodoricke and Israel de Bry, who haue in liuely stampes expressed these Nauigations. 1662 Evelyn Sculptura i. i. 9 The French call it [Etching] in particular Taille douce... The Italians Intaglia, or stamp, without Adjunct. Ibid. i. iv. 47 Ugo de Carpi did things in stamp, which appear'd as tender as any Drawings. 1705 Addison Italy 88 When I was at Venice they were putting out very curious Stamps of the several Edifices that are most famous for their Beauty. 1720 Prior in Swift's Lett. (1766) II. 11 Richardson..has made an excellent picture of me; from whence lord Harley (whose it is) has a stamp taken by Vertue. 1756 Nugent Gr. Tour, Italy III. 26 At Rome, all sorts of fine stamps or prints, as of antiques, palaces..plans of towns, &c. 1780 J. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 380 It is a description and a copper-plate of all the engravings upon precious stones... The stamps are extremely beautiful, and are representations of the gods and heroes of antiquity. |
17. Mining. (See
quots.)
| 1851 Greenwell Coal-trade Terms, Northumb. & Durh. 50 Stamp, a hole made with a pick in the coal, in which to place a wedge. 1860 Eng. & For. Mining Gloss. (ed. 2) 80 (S. Staffordsh. Terms), Stamp, a mark cut in the roof or sides of the mine, as a point of reference, to show the amount of work done. |
18. Metallurgy. (See
quots.)
| 1880 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 319 (Iron) The first rough forged slabs are cut into pieces termed ‘stamps’, which are then reheated. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Stamps, S. Wales. The pieces into which the rough bars shingled from the finery ball are broken, to be piled for subsequent rolling into sheet-iron. |
IV. attrib. and
Comb. 19. Obvious combinations, as
stamp-mark,
stamp-seal; objective and objective
gen., as
stamp-licker,
stamp-licking n. and
adj. (
freq. with reference to menial office work),
stamp-maker,
stamp-selling adj.| 1928 F. Le Gros Clark Apparition xiii. 176 You've never even held a commission. Bloody *stamp-licker in an office. 1978 J. Updike Coup (1979) vii. 269 In the bureaucracy of Kush Amid so many posts for stamp-lickers and boot-lickers. |
| 1913 Punch 14 May 382/3 There is something after all to be said for the *Stamp-licking Act. 1973 G. Talbot Ten Seconds from Now (1974) ii. 22 At first the job was stamp-licking office boy on the commercial side. 1979 Nature 4 Jan. 7/1 A total paid staff of two people who do everything from typing, stamp-licking and driving to..producing scholarly catalogues. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Stamp-maker, a die sinker; a manufacturer of adhesive receipt or postage stamps. |
| 1813 Shelley Q. Mab iv. 230 Red glows the tyrants *stamp-mark on its bloom. Ibid. v. 188 A public mart Of undisguising selfishness, that sets On each its price, the stamp-mark of her reign. |
| 1758 J. Blake Plan. regul. Marine Syst. 3 Let her be provided with a screw *stamp-seal, having a device thereon. |
| 1908 Daily Chron. 18 Apr. 4/6 An automatic *stamp-selling machine. |
20. Special comb.:
Stamp Act, each of the various Acts of Parliament for regulating the stamp duties;
esp. that of 1765 (5
Geo. III, c. 12) for levying stamp duties in the American colonies; also, that of 1712 (10 Anne, c. 19, §101) imposing a stamp duty on newspapers;
stamp-album, a book for the orderly arrangement and preservation of a collection of postage stamps;
stamp-battery, a series of stamps in a stamp-mill;
stamp-bed, the bed or bottom of a stamping machine upon which the lower die is placed;
Stamp-Bill, a bill for imposing or regulating stamp duties;
stamp book = stamp-album;
stamp-box, (
a) a receptacle for unused postage stamps; (
b) the box in which the ore is pounded in a stamp-mill;
stamp-collecting, (
a)
n. = philately; (
b)
adj., that practises philately;
stamp collection, a philatelist's collection of postage stamps; also
fig.;
stamp-collector, (
a) a collector or receiver of stamp duties; (
b) a philatelist;
stamp copper, copper ore which is to be or has been crushed by stamping (
Funk's Stand. Dict. 1895);
stamp-cutter (see
quot.);
stamp-dealer, a dealer in postage stamps for collectors;
stamp-distributor, an official who issues or sells government stamps; hence
stamp distributorship;
stamp duty, any of the duties collected by means of stamps impressed on or affixed to the articles taxed;
stamp gold, gold ore for stamping;
stamp-hammer, the hammer of a stamping machine;
stamp-head, (
a) the head of a pestle of a stamp-mill; (
b) the head of a cask upon which the brands are made (
Funk's Stand. Dict.);
† stamp-house, a house containing machinery for crushing ore;
stamp machine, (
a)
Paper-making, a machine for pulping rags (
Cent. Dict. 1891); (
b) a vending machine which supplies postage stamps;
† stamp-man = stamp-collector (a);
stamps-man, one who helps to work an ore-crushing stamp-mill;
stamp-master, (
a) an official appointed by the Trustees for the linen manufacture in Ireland (see
quot. 1726); (
b) an official appointed to adminster the Stamp Act;
stamp mealies S. Afr. [
ad. Afrikaans
stampmielies]
= sense 9 b above;
cf. stamped ppl. a. 1 b;
stamp-mill, (
a) the apparatus used to crush ores by means of a pestle or series of pestles operated by machinery, also
attrib.; (
b) an oil-crushing mill of similar construction;
stamp note, a permit from a Custom House official granting permission for the loading of goods on board ship;
stamp office, an office where government stamps are issued and where stamp duties are received;
stamp officer, one appointed to administer the Stamp Act;
stamp paper, (
a) paper having the government revenue stamp impressed on or affixed to it; (
b) the marginal paper of a sheet of postage stamps (often used as sticking plaster, etc.);
stamp-press (see
quot.);
stamp rock, ore suitable for treatment by stamping;
stamp-stem, the stem of the pestle of a stamp-mill;
stamp-tax, a tax imposed by a stamp act;
stamp war, competition amongst retailers to attract custom by providing the best trading-stamp offer; an instance of this;
stamp-work (see
quot.).
| 1765 J. Adams Diary 18 Dec., Wks. 1850 II. 154 That enormous engine, fabricated by the British Parliament, for beating down all the rights and liberties of America, I mean the *Stamp Act. 1793 Blackstone's Comm. (ed. 12) I. 324 note, If each stamp-act declared the whole amount of the stamp at the time, it would prevent much confusion. |
| 1862 All Year Round July 447/1 My *stamp album is worth twenty pounds. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Stamp-battery. 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 451 The..advantage in substituting a systematic crushing by steel rolls for stamp-batteries. |
| 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 263/1 This block the stamper lays on the *stamp-bed, immediately under the descending hammer. |
| 1765 J. Ingersoll Lett. Stamp-Act (1766) 11 The *Stamp-Bill that has been preparing to lay before Parliament for taxing America. |
| 1862 F. Booty Stamp Coll. Guide Introd., The *stamp book..has also its utilitarian side. |
| 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 5825, Match-box, *stamp-box, and paper-knife, all en suite. 1872 W. W. Smyth Mining Statistics 65 The amalgam obtained inside and outside the stamp boxes. |
| 1862 F. Booty Stamp Coll. Guide Introd., It is curious to see how much public opinion has been modified lately, upon the subject of *stamp collecting. |
| 1867 Philatelist I. 1/2 Not only in England, but in other stamp-collecting countries. |
| [1865 Stamp-Collector's Mag. 1 Jan. 2/1 When we first saw a postage-stamp collection, more than ten years past, it contained about a hundred and fifty specimens.] 1884 Stamp Collectors' Jrnl. 15 Jan. 19/1 The value of a *stamp collection does not depend entirely upon the amount of money expended for the album and the stamps. 1926 J. S. Huxley Ess. Pop. Sci. 164 This corpus of fact..is only a vast stamp-collection, no more than a lumber-room, unless each generation in its turn will make it live. 1978 S. Sheldon Bloodline iv. 62 He was basically a retiring man, content to make a modest living, reside in a little apartment in Passy and tend to his small stamp collection. |
| 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4673/3 All such Indentures..to be sent..either to the head Stamp-Office, or to some of the *Stamp Collectors. 1863 (title) The Stamp-Collector's Magazine. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Stamp-cutter, an engraver of dies on wood, stone, or metal. |
| 1863 Stamp-Collector's Mag. I. 39/2 The *stamp dealers of Paris. |
| 1765 Universal Mag. XXXVII. Suppl. 377/1 The *stamp distributor, or informer, may unrighteously get, from his Majesty's good American subjects, more than his Majesty, upon a balance, may get by the stamps. 1904 Spencer Autobiog. II. 39 Of all posts likely to answer my purpose, that of stamp-distributor was the most promising. |
| Ibid., The *stamp-distributorship for Derby fell vacant, and I made an effort to obtain it. |
| 1704 Evelyn Diary 16 Jan., The Lord Treasurer gave my grand⁓son the office of Treasurer of the *Stamp duties. 1765 J. Ingersoll Lett. Stamp-Act (1766) 28 'Tis said that it is intended to give the Business of collecting and paying the Stamp-Duty, to Americans. 1894 Act 57–8 Vict. c. 30. §6(1) Estate duty shall be a stamp duty collected and recovered as hereinafter mentioned. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 771/2 The death duties, the corporation duty, the duties on patent medicines and playing cards, and postage duties, are also technically ‘stamp duties’; but in ordinary use the expression is limited to those imposed on the various classes of legal instruments, such as conveyances, leases,..&c., on bills of exchange,..bills of lading, and a few other documents. |
| 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 293 The Quartz Hill mines have furnished during the year about one-third of the *stamp-gold product of the county. |
| 1837 L. Hebert Engin. & Mech. Encycl. II. 190 By means of a blow from the *stamp hammer, the two needles between the dies are exactly impressed on both sides with the grooves. |
| 1758 Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornw. 178 The lifters..are armed at the bottom with large masses of iron..called *Stamp-heads. 1890 Goldf. Victoria 15 A battery of 26 stampheads. |
| 1684 Phil. Trans. XVII. 745 Several persons were employed to bring the Refuse [copper ore] to the *Stamp-house, where it was stamped. |
| 1944 J. D. Carr Till Death do us Part xviii. 191 There's no *stamp machine at the post office... Anyone who wants stamps must buy 'em..over the counter. 1969 R. Thomas Singapore Wink xxvi. 250 Trippet and I went in search of a stamp machine. We fed dimes and nickels and quarters into it until we had almost three dollars' worth. He helped me lick them. |
| 1765 Universal Mag. XXXVII. 217/1 The *Stampman for that colony had appointed his Deputies. 1876 Bancroft Hist. U.S. III. xx. 532 In Boston, the people dealt first with Andrew Oliver, who had received his commission as stamp-man. |
| 1891 J. H. Pearce Esther Pentreath i. i, The news of the accident spread like wildfire among..the *stamps'-men and spallers. |
| 1712 in D. D. Black Hist. Brechin (1839) 125 [They were appointed by the council] to be *stamp-masters of this burgh for stamping all linen cloth. 1726 Act 13 Geo. I, c. 26. §20 All Dealers in Linen Cloth, before..they shall sell..any Linen Cloth..shall carry the same..to the Place where such Lapper or Stamp-master..shall reside, there to be inspected, marked, lapped up and stamped by him. |
| 1952 L. Green Lords of Last Frontier 79 We now live well and keep strong on *stamp mealies from Oorlog's place. |
| 1749 Phil. Trans. XLVI. 226 After this Preparation it is brought to the *Stamp-mills. 1874 Raymond 6th Rep. Mines 292 The stamp-mill ore is passed through the mill belonging to the mine. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Stamp-note. |
| 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4673/3 All such Indentures..to be sent..to the head *Stamp-Office. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 555 ¶5 The tax on each half-sheet has brought into the stamp-office one week with another above 20 l. |
| 1765 Universal Mag. Oct. 218/2 His son, then in London, was appointed a *Stamp Officer for the said province. |
| 1765 Ibid. XXXVII. Suppl. 378/2 A design..to promote the taking of the *stamp-papers. 1814 Scott Wav. lxxi, It certainly related to stamp-paper and parchment. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 61 Get some gummed stamp paper, and punch through six or eight thicknesses at a time. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Stamp-press, one for attaching stamps to letters, envelopes, or other articles. |
| 1872 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 314 The *stamp-rock, it is said, yields about one ounce of retorted amalgam per ton. |
| 1882 Rep. Precious Metals U.S. 572 There is a momentum given to the stamp, *stamp-stem, and piston. |
| 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 160 We rose up as one man, against a paltry *stamp-tax. |
| 1963 Daily Tel. 14 Oct. 1/4 (heading) *Stamp war challenge to Garfield Weston. 1972 Guardian 16 Oct. 9/5 In the early sixties the stamp war broke out. Different supermarket chains started offering different stamps, each one claiming to give better value and better gifts. |
| 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., *Stamp-work, Lake Superior. Rock containing disseminated native copper. |
Add:
[IV.] [20.] stamp hinge = hinge n. 1 d.
| 1905 Gibbons Stamp Weekly 8 Apr. (Advt. section) 5 We have just prepared a new *stamp hinge, size as above, put up in air-tight tin boxes. 1989 Los Angeles Times 7 Dec. e34/2 Many collectors and investors will not even look at a mint stamp if the gum has been disturbed by a stamp hinge. |
▪ IV. † stamp, n.4 Obs. rare—1.
[Of obscure origin; cf. ON. stamp-r large tub, LG. stampe drinking-glass with a thick stem, G. stampf mortar, also swill-tub.] Some kind of vessel for oil.
| 1552 Invent. Ch. Goods (Surtees) 65, ij pypes of everye, one with litle silver, the ole and creme in a stampe of latten, and the oyntment in a boke [? read boxe] covered with lether. |
▪ V. stamp, n.5 dial. (
stæmp)
[Of obscure origin: cf. stalp.] A trap.
| 1788 Picken Poems 53 Mony a trap, an' stamp, an' snare, They hae their prey to catch in. 1827 Sporting Mag. XXI. 111 Some people catch foxes in stamps, and say it is done accidentally. |
▪ VI. stamp, v. (
stæmp)
Also 3–7
stampe, 4–5
staumpe, 6
stampp.
[Early ME. stampen (? OE. *stampian) = (M)LG., (M)D., WFris. stampe, NFris. stampi to stamp with the foot, to pound, OHG. stamfôn to pound (only once, gl. comminuere; MHG., mod.G. stampfen to stamp with the foot, to pound, bray in a mortar), ON. stappa (:—*stampa) to stamp with the foot, to bray in a mortar, (M)Sw. stampa, (M)Da. stampe:—OTeut. *stampōjan, f. *stampo-z masc., pestle, mortar (MLG. stamp, OHG., MHG., mod.G. stampf masc.) A parallel formation from the same base is OE. stęmpan to bray in a mortar (occurring only once; cf. á-stęmpan to stamp with a die, stęmping-{iacu}sern stamping-iron) = MLG. stempen, WFris. stimpe, NFris. stemp, MHG., mod.G. (? obs.) stempfen:—OTeut. type *stampjan; cf. MLG., mod.G. stempel, MHG. stempfel stamp, die. The Teut. *stamp- is the source of the Com. Rom. verb represented by It. stampare to tread, press, print, Pr., Sp., Pg. estampar to stamp, print, OF. estamper (mod.F. estamper, in some technical senses étamper) to stamp; whence the verbal noun It. stampa press, printing-press, Sp., Pg. estampa, F. estampe engraving, estampe, étampe stamp, die. The view stated above seems on the whole more likely than the alternative supposition that the verb did not exist in
OE., but is solely an adoption of
OF. estamper (see above). At the same time there can be little doubt that the sense-development of the
Eng. verb has been influenced by the uses of its
Fr. cognate.
The
Teut. root
*stamp- is
prob. a nasalized form of
*stap- to tread; if so the primary sense of the verb would seem to be that of branch II below, from which the other senses might easily be derived. Some scholars regard the root (pre-Teut.
*stomb-) as cogn. w.
Gr. στέµβ-ειν ? to shake, ? to maltreat (occurring only once); radical connexion with
stump n. has also been suggested.]
I. † 1. trans. To bray in a mortar; to beat to a pulp or powder; to pound. Also
absol. Obs.| [c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 378 Nim readstalede harhuna & ysopo, & stemp & do on ænne neowan pott.] c 1200 Vices & Virtues Hie [sc. rihte ȝeleaue] is ȝelich ðe seneueies corne... æure ðe mann ðe hit more [read ðe more ðe hit mann] bat and stampeþ, ðe hit strengere and betre is. 13.. K. Alis. 332 Herbes he tok in an herber, And stamped heom in a morter. c 1386 Chaucer Pard. T. 210 This Cookes, how they stampe and streyne and grynde, And turnen substaunce in to Accident. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. lxxxix. (1495) 838 Coloquintida..helpyth ayenst fleen yf it is stampyd and medlyd wyth water and spronge in the place there as many fleen ben. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 56 Take malowe leues & leues of violet, & þe rote of holi⁓hocke; seþe hem weel in water, & staumpe hem. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 112 b, Yf all the espyces of the world had ben stamped to gydre it shold not haue smellyd so well. c 1489 ― Sonnes of Aymon vii. 169 Thenne toke Mawgis an herbe, & stamped it vpon a stone wyth the pomell of his swerde and tempered it wyth water. 1579 Langham Gard. Health (1633) 602 Stamp good store of ripe Sloes. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. ii. 46 Malaghie reasons..either stampt or unstampt. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 386 Pelagonius would haue him to drink Parsly stampt with wine. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 650 They stamp their milia as we do spice. 1626 Bacon Sylva §45, I conceiue that some Decoction of Bones, and Sinewes, stamped, and well strained, would bee a very Nourishing Broth. 1683 Salmon Doron Med. i. 113 Pultise is made of green Herbs stampt or of their juyces. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 24 Aug. 1678, They cull the raggs..then they stamp them in troughs to a papp with pestles. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 123 A Stone Mortar to stamp or beat some Corn in. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physick (1762) 116 A Plaister of Ground Ivy stampt. 1764 E. Moxon Eng. Housew. (ed. 9) 165 Stamp your berries and throw them into your water as you stamp them. |
† b. To crush or press (fruit,
esp. crabs) to extract the juice; to press (wine) out of grapes.
| 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love iii. v. (Skeat) 114 But it the better be stamped, and the venomous jeuse out-wrongen, it is lykely to enpoysonen al tho that therof tasten. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun (Roxb.) 134 Out of grapes stampyng the wyne. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 46 Stamp crabs that may, for rotting away. 1594 Lyly Mother Bombie iii. iv, It was crabbs she stampt, and stole away one to make her a face. 1597 Deloney Gentle Craft Wks. (1912) 151 Would you haue him to stampe the crab. 1618 W. Lawson New Orchard & Gard. xvi. (1623) 52 Dresse euery Apple,..stamp them, and straine them [etc.]. |
c. To thresh.
Obs. exc. dial. ‘to beat or break the awns from barley, etc., to thresh flax’ (
Eng. Dial. Dict.).
| 1388 Wyclif Isa. xxv. 10 Moab schal be threischid vndur hym, as chaffis be stampid [Vulg. teruntur] in a wayn. 1856 Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 103/2 Ordinarily the grain [barley] is spread on the floor of the barn, and stamped by either of the instruments [depicted]. |
d. To crush (ore); in
mod. use, by means of the machine called a ‘stamp’.
| 1568 in Sel. Charters Trading Co. (Selden Soc.) 18 The same ores..to drain break stamp wash boil [etc.]. 1859 R. Hunt Guide Mus. Pract. Geol. (ed. 2) 261 The dressing floors, where the ores are stamped and prepared for the market. |
e. To drive in (a blasting charge).
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 277 While engaged in stamping a blasting charge in a rock with a pointed iron bar..the charge suddenly exploded. |
II. To bring down the foot heavily. (
Cf. stramp v.)
2. intr. a. To bring the sole of one's foot suddenly and forcibly down (
upon the ground or floor, or some other object), with the object of crushing or beating down something.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 8590 Þe devels salle ay opon þam gang, And ay on þam stamp with þair feth omang. 1384 Chaucer H. Fame 2154 Tho behynde..troden fast on other heles And stampen as men doon aftir eles. 1719 Young Revenge i. i, This usage is like stamping on the murder'd, When life is fled. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm. xxxiii, Stamping upon the coals with the heel of his boot. |
b. To strike the ground or floor forcibly with the sole of one's foot, in order,
e.g. to make a noise that will serve as a signal, to emphasize a command or an expression of firm resolve, to warm one's feet, etc. Phrase,
to stamp with one's foot.
| 1535 Coverdale Ezek. vi. 11 Smyte thine hondes together, and stampe with thy fete. 1538 Elyot Dict., Supplodo, to stampe or make noise with the fete. 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV (1550) 43 b, The sayd Lewes conterfeited the fashion and gesture of the duke of Burgoyn, & began to stampe with his fote on the ground. 1662 Greenhalgh in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. IV. 15 When mention was made of the Edomites, Philistines, or any enemies of..Israel's, they stamped strongly with their feet. 1705 H. Blackwell Engl. Fencing-Master 16 Must I stamp with my Foot when I make those Faints? 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 143 As far as can be conjectured from the sound caused by stamping with the foot against the bottom, there is another cavity under it. 1801 Southey Thalaba ix. xxviii, Thrice on the floor she stampt. 1815 Scott Guy M. liii, She paused an instant..and stamped upon the ground, which..shewed vestiges of having been recently moved. 1823 Roland Fencing 27 To ascertain whether you are firmly and correctly placed in this posture, it will be necessary to make an Appel. This is performed by stamping twice with the right foot. 1850 Merivale Rom. Emp. xiii. (1865) II. 114, I have only to stamp with my foot, he said,..to raise legions from the soil of Italy. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 78, I again resorted to stamping to secure a footing. |
c. esp. as an instinctive expression of fury; formerly often
† to stamp and stare. Hence (now only
U.S.), to be very angry.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints l. (Catherine) 1028 He..rathly ruschit to and fra,..& sturly stampit als, & steryt. 1530 Palsgr. 732/2, I stampe, I stare, as one doth that taketh on in his angyr, je me demayne. You never sawe man stampe as he dyd. a 1534 Coventry Corpus Chr. Plays i. 779, I stampe! I stare! I loke all abowt! 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 185 Many men stamped [L. fremebant enim plerique] for the murther of Rincon and Fregose. 1577 Kendall Flowers of Epigr., Trifles 24 b, He stamps, he stares, he taketh on: he knowes not what to doe. 1657 N. Billingsley Brachy-Martyrol. xii. 39 How he did stamp, did stare like one distracted. 1681 [Durfey] Progr. Honesty viii. 9 And as a stubborn Child..Vext at some trifle, stamps, lies down and cries. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 429 ¶17 The Petitioner swore, stamped, and threw down his Cards. 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xix, O'Grady stamped and swore with rage. 1866 ‘L. Carroll’ Alice in Wonderland viii, The Queen..went stamping about, and shouting ‘Off with his head!’ 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 552 Stamp, to, commonly pronounced stomp, has, in the South especially, the meaning of being very angry. 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn liv, He stamped, and cursed the Christians by all his gods. 1891 E. Roper By Track & Trail ii. 21 The Colonel stamped and groaned and swore. |
d. said of a horse.
| 1509 Hawes Past. Pleasure xxviii. (Percy Soc.) 134 My stede Galantyse..began to stampe full marveylously. c 1611 Chapman Iliad viii. 72 The paine, so sore the courser stung, (Pierc't to the braine) he stampt and plung'd. 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. xxxi, Shouting clans or squadrons stamping. 1865 A. Smith Summer in Skye II. 107 The horses stamped and pawed in their stables. |
e. To walk with a heavy, ‘pounding’ tread; to walk noisily or laboriously, tramp.
| c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon iii. 93 Reynawde..asked who was there that maketh thys noyse?.. It is evyl doone for to go thus stampyng at this houre. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccccxv. 725 Yonder men of armes..haue all this laste day traueyled, and all this nyght stamped in the myre. 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 56 Men, who..come stamping in with their high clouted shooes, yet one of good understanding. 1753 J. Collier Art Torment. i. ii. (1811) 63 Tell her you wonder how she can stamp about the floor in such a manner, as if she had wooden shoes on. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle iii, The capstan was manned, and the crew stamped round to a point of war. 1859 FitzGerald Omar xvii, And Bahrám, that great Hunter—the Wild Ass Stamps o'er his Head, and he lies fast asleep. |
f. Used
transf. of a marine engine.
| 1892 Kipling Barrack-room Ballads, L'Envoi ix, And the engines stamp and ring, and the wet bows reel and swing. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 124 The Mové..stamps steadily along past the wooded shore. |
3. trans. a. With complementary
adv. or phrase: To affect in the specified way by stamping;
esp. to trample violently
down,
to the ground.
| c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 270 Ane othir sone doune fra his hors he bar, Stampyt to grounde, and drownyt with outyn mar. 1552 Huloet, Stampe vnder fete, pessundo. 1659 D. Pell Impr. Sea 127 When..divisions are made in your ships, salve them up again, or else couragiously stamp them down. 1883 Harper's Mag. Dec. 51/2 Leonard was..heard stamping the snow from his boots. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman iii. xii, ‘The Lord's blessing, Master Philip ―’ she began, but the horse's feet stamped out everything. |
b. To bring down the sole or heel forcibly upon. Now somewhat
rare.
† Also with
off.
| 1602 Span. Trag. Addit. iii. xii. a. 19, I..Beat at the bushes, stampe our grandam earth Diue in the water, and stare vp to heauen, Yet cannot I behold my sonne Horatio. 1700 Dryden Pal. & Arc. i. 446 He frets, he fumes, he stares, he stamps the Ground. 1815 Scott Guy M. x, The short turf..was much trampled, as if stamped by the heels of men in a mortal struggle. 1892 Daily News 20 May 5/7 Hundreds of feet angrily stamped the ground. 1892 Rider Haggard Nada 216 The Halakazi are no more a tribe, since Umslopogaas stamped them with his feet. |
c. to stamp one's foot = sense 2.
| 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 123 She furious stampt her shoeless foot aground. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. xx. 229 He would stamp his foot on the ground. 1875 B. Taylor Faust I. xiii. 146 Faust (stamping his foot). 1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xxvii, She stamped her little foot. |
d. to stamp out: to extinguish (a fire) by trampling on it. Hence,
transf. to extirpate (a disease, a heresy, etc.), suppress (a rebellion) by resorting to vigorous measures;
occas. to exterminate (a people).
| 1851 Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi Wind. 107 Ye stamp no nation out, though day and night Ye tread them with that absolute heel which [etc.]. 1866 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. Ser. ii. II. i. 271 Measures..by which, to use a now prevalent expression, the disease was ‘stamped out’. 1868 Sir J. Y. Simpson in Med. Times & Gaz. 4 Jan. 5/2 The public mind has during the last two or three years become familiarised with the idea of ‘stamping out’ a disease, in the instance of the rinderpest. 1868 G. Duff Pol. Surv. 78 The Taeping insurrection was stamped out utterly three years ago. a 1873 Deutsch Lit. Rem. 289 The very remembrance of it was stamped out. 1883 Manch. Guardian 17 Oct. 5/2 Earl Spencer..remarked that in Scotland they had, by a strict enforcement of the rules, stamped out the disease altogether. 1892 Rider Haggard Nada 208 If these demands were granted, then he would spare them,..if not, he would stamp them out. 1899 J. Mathew Eaglehawk & Crow ix. 117 Some fires had to be stamped out by the youths with their naked feet. |
III. To strike an impression on something.
4. To impress with an embossed or intaglio device or lettering by means of a die and the impact of a hammer or machinery; to make (a coin, a medal) by this process.
| 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 415 b, In his letters and coyne, that he stamped [in..moneta quam cuderet], used stil the name of elector. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 75 He stamped certaine golden pieces of coine. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 284 Also they [the Irish] had silver groats, called crosse-keele groats, stamped with the Popes tripple Crowne. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 177 Among many..sorts of coine anciently famous, the Cyziceni stateres were most of all renowned as being well stamped. 1670 Pettus Fodinæ Reg. 41 Lastly, the Moniers, who are some to sheer the Monie,.. some to stamp or coin it. 1697 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1707) 126 It's Gates are vastly large, and cover'd with Brass, stampt all over with Arab Characters. 1710 W. King Heathen Gods vii. (1722) 15 Money of Brass was stamp'd, with a Ship on the one side..and the Figure of Janus with a double Face on the other. 1736 Gentl. Mag. VI. 683/2 There having been a great scarcity of Copper and Silver Coin in Ireland..Traders..hit on a Method of stamping Pieces of Silver bearing a promissory Note of three Pence each. 1818 Stoddart Gram. in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) I. 156/1 A preposition is not like a piece of money stamped to pass for a certain value. 1862 Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. iii. 59 The pieces of money..are stamped with the earliest mark of coinage. 1865 Street Gothic Archit. Spain 218 All the Moorish decorative work..was evidently cut and carved as if it had been stone, and seldom, if ever, I think, stamped or moulded, according to the mistaken practice of the present day. |
| transf. and fig. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. ii. v. 5 That most venerable man, which I Did call my Father, was, I know not where When I was stampt. Some Coyner with his Tooles Made me a counterfeit. 1614 J. Taylor (Water P.) Nipping Abuses B 3 b, My pulsiue braine no Art affoords, To mint, or stampe, or forge new coined words. 1799 Campbell Pleas. Hope i. 498 Nature stamp'd us in a heavenly mould. |
b. To impress (a device, lettering, etc.) by means of a die.
| 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 598 The Cyrenæans to sooth this proud King..stamped his shape in their coynes. 1705 Addison Italy, Rome 351 But it is very well known that an Emperor often stamp'd on his Coins the Face or Ornaments of his Collegue. 1823 Scott Quentin D. viii, He now wore a hat, the band of which was garnished with..a dozen of little paltry figures of saints stamped in lead. |
| transf. and fig. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 43 So deepe were the characters stamped in my inwarde senses, that obliuion can neuer race out the forme of her excellence. a 1631 Donne Serm. vii. (1640) 62 God stampeth his Image upon us, and so God is Statuarius, our Minter, our Statuary. 1692 R. L'Estrange Fables ccxxvi. 198 She had the Flower-de-Luce Stamp'd, we must not say Branded upon her Shoulder. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. ii. xcviii, What is the worst of woes that wait on age? What stamps the wrinkle deeper on the brow? |
c. Bookbinding. To impress a pattern on (leather) by means of dies.
| 1863 Hotten Hand-bk. Topogr. 103/2, 4to, old calf gilt, sides stamped. |
d. To make by cutting out with a die.
| 1798 Hull Advertiser 18 Aug. 3/3 A man has invented an engine that will stamp or cut two hundred horse shoes in one hour. 1862 Morrall Needle Making 17 In 1811, Abel and Michael Morrall..commenced stamping needles, and introduced the first eye into the needles by means of the stamp. What is meant by the first eye is an indenture half through the head of the needle. |
e. to stamp out: to make (paste) into ‘rounds’, to fashion (‘rounds’ of paste) by pressure with a circular cutter.
| 1845 E. Acton Mod. Cookery (ed. 2) 457 Small rounds of bread stamped out with a plain..paste-cutter. 1877 Cassell's Dict. Cookery 17 Stamp out with a small cup-plate as many rounds as you wish to make pasties. Ibid. 19 Make a light sweet crust, stamp it out in small rounds. |
5. To mark (paper or textile material) with a device either impressed in relief or intaglio, imparted to the surface by ink or pigment, or produced by both processes combined. Also, to impress (a device) on paper, etc. by means of a die or engraved plate.
† Also with
off.
| 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies vi. v. 442 To make their impressions, they grave a boord or plank with the figures they will print, then do they stampe as many leaves of paper as they list. 1630 [see stamping vbl. n. 1]. 1753 Scots Mag. Feb. 100/2 Each dozen of..hand⁓kerchiefs..are stamped twice. 1782 V. Knox Ess. cxxxvii. ¶6 A few other books are extant, which are, on good reasons, judged to have been stamped, not printed secundum artem. 1828 Lytton Pelham lxxxv, A letter was brought me, stamped with the foreign post mark. 1879 G. Gladstone Calico Printing in Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 197/2 Block printing..consists in stamping the calico with a pattern raised in relief. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay xi, I know the paper and the crest stamped outside. 1885 ‘H. Conway’ Family Affair viii, This jacket..was stamped in various places with the government broad arrow. 1908 R. Bagot A. Cuthbert xxi. 261 The address..was there in full, and she noticed that it was also stamped on the envelope. |
† b. To print (a book, etc.).
Obs. [
Cf. It. stampare.]
| 1555 R. Braham Lydgate's Chron. Troy To Rdr. 1/2 With..great paynes causing the same to be perfected and stamped as it is nowe read. 1556 Charter Stationers Co. in Entick London (1766) IV. 225, Several seditious and heretical books,..are daily published, stamped and printed by divers..persons. 1609 W. Bedell Let. to Newton 1 Jan. in Two Biog. W.B. (1902) 245 He told me further of a deliberation he had to remove himself..into Germany..to stamp that and sundry other things of the like nature. 1624 ― Lett. iv. 79 Wee had an Epistle stampt at Venice, pretended to bee written at Rome. Ibid. v. 85 These wordes Posseuine stamps in his former Relation in Capitall letters. |
6. To impress with a device or lettering indicating genuineness, quality, or official inspection and approval; to impress (a device, etc.) on merchandise, weights or measures, or the like, for this purpose.
| 1564 Extracts Burgh Rec. Edin. (1875) III. 187 Quha..sall stamp samekill [cloth] as beis sufficient thairof with the said stamp in leid. 1631 Letters patent Sir W. Russell etc., That a stamp..to bee engraven with a Rose and Crown shall be stamped, sealed or marked on all the soapes..the better to distinguish the said soape from the counterfett soape. 1638 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 315/1 To mark and stamp all firlottis, peckis, pund-wechtis, staine-wechtis, elnewandis [etc.]. 1795 Frankland in Phil. Trans. LXXXV. 296 The Sheffield artists, who stamp much low-priced work with the title of cast steel. 1846 Greener Sci. Gunnery 209 Such barrels are, of course, sent back unmarked. Those that are found satisfactory are duly stamped and taken home. 1885 Kay in Law Times' Rep. LIII. 490/2 The words..were never stamped on goods, or advertised as a trade mark. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. Advt. p. cxxi, Messrs. ― warn customers before purchasing to see that every Lens is stamped with their Trade Mark. |
7. To impress with an official stamp or mark indicating that a duty or tax has been paid. In later use also, to attach an adhesive ‘stamp’ to.
| 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. viii. 313 A fifth branch of the perpetual revenue consists in the stamp duties... These imposts are very various, according to the nature of the thing stamped. 1837 R. Hill Post Office Reform 19 The duties of the Clerks in the London Office..are..to stamp the letters; to assort them for delivery [etc.]. 1854 Poultry Chron. II. 147 If you need a reply, send..an envelope directed and stamped. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay iii, He wrote a hasty line to the effect that [etc.]... When this had been sealed, stamped, and directed to Lambert, he rang and ordered his bill. 1892 Holyoake 60 Yrs. Agitator's Life I. liii. 287 Mr. Lloyd..was at once told he must stop or stamp. He stamped, raised his paper to twopence, and lost his circulation. I neither stopped nor stamped. 1907 G. John Voice from China xi. 240 We..made another attempt to get the deed stamped. |
8. In various uses,
orig. figurative of senses 4–6.
† a. To fabricate (an inference)
out of something.
Obs.| 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 82 b, Out of these two monstruous falsely forged propositions, he stampeth a conclusion..no lesse false then malicious. Ibid. 152, I awayte what this choppelogicke will stampe out hereof. |
b. To declare or show to be of a certain quality or nature; sometimes in bad sense, to stigmatize.
| 1599 Shakes. Much Ado i. ii. 7 Leo[nato] Are they [sc. the newes] good? Old [Man]. As the euents stamps them, but they haue a good couer. a 1720 Sewel Hist. Quakers (1722) I. Pref. 3 Their Fear of doing or omitting anything which they judged would displease God, often hath been stampt with the odious Denomination of Stubbornness. 1853 Maurice Proph. & Kings xix. 339 Their literal accomplishment..stamped them as sure decrees for Jerusalem and for euery other city of the earth in all generations to come. 1863 M. Howitt tr. Bremer's Greece II. xii. 22 And this stamps them really as Greek islands. 1871 Blackie Four Phases i. 137 The death of Socrates must be stamped by the impartial historian as a great social crime. 1885 Truth 28 May 837/1 Not to like the picture is to stamp oneself as being no judge of painting. |
c. To give a mark of authoritative approval to;
† to convert by authorization
into.
| 1681–6 J. Scott Chr. Life (1747) III. 450 By his own inherent Authority, as he was a King, he stamped those Doctrines into Laws which he taught and delivered as a Prophet. 1688 T. Comber Comp. Temple (ed. 3) Pref. 2 Having..undervalued these Devotions stampt by publick Authority. 1778 F. Burney Diary Sept., The sanction of his good opinion..would in a manner stamp the success of my book. 1809 N. Pinkney Trav. France 268 Time has stampt his reputation. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xlviii, No lady..can possess this desideratum, until she..has been presented to her Sovereign at Court. From that august interview they come out stamped as honest women. 1852 ― Esmond ii. v, The famous Mr. Congreve had stamped with his high approval..this delightful person. a 1853 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. xxi. 273 He has been stamped by his master's eulogy. |
d. To impress with some permanent and conspicuous characteristic.
| 1780 Bentham Princ. Legisl. xiii. §4. 6 Falsehood stamps a character with a deep and degrading stain. 1836 J. Martin Discourses xv. 302 The Jewish priesthood must have seemed stamped by God with something of the mystery of His own nature. 1838 Lytton Leila i. ii, Its beauty was singularly stamped with a grave and stately sadness. 1838 ― Alice ii. i, The book that Evelyn could admire was sure to be stamped with the impress of the noble, the lovely, or the true! |
e. To be a distinctive mark of; to characterize.
| 1833 Tennyson Lady Clara Vere de Vere 40 Her manners had not that repose which stamps the caste of Vere de Vere. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. iii. i, With that frankness of speech which stamps the independent man. |
f. To impress or fix permanently (an idea, etc.) on the mind or memory.
| 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ iii. i. §10 If God hath stamped an universal character of himself upon the minds of men. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. i. ii. §1 It is an established Opinion..That there are..some primary Notions,..Characters; as it were stamped upon the Mind of Man. 1725 Watts Logic iv. ii. (1726) 353 Give all Diligence..that your Words, as fast as you utter them, may stamp your own Ideas exactly on the Mind of the Hearer. 1818 Byron Ch. Har. iv. xviii, And Otway, Radcliffe, Schiller, Shakspeare's art, Had stamp'd her image in me. 1872 Morley Voltaire (1886) 1 A new type of belief..was stamped by the impression of his character and work into the intelligence and feeling of his own and the following times. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay vi, The picture of the streets through which he was conducted..remained forever stamped upon his memory. |
g. To impose permanently (an immaterial mark or sign); to impress the signs or traces of (some quality, event, etc.)
on a person or thing; to place permanently
on a record or the like.
| 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 211 The character of Antiquity, that is now stamped upon them. 1684 Contempl. St. Man ii. vi. (1699) 191 This Infamy, by some Mark of Ugliness and Deformity, shall be stamped upon their Faces and Bodies. 1756 C. Smart tr. Horace, Epist. ii. i. (1826) II. 275 If length of time makes poems better, as it does wine, I would fain know how many years will stamp a value upon writings. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. I. xi. 249 Conquerors, statesmen, and kings live but by their names stamped on the page of history. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey v. x, Despair was stamped on his distracted features. 1848 J. H. Newman in W. Ward Life (1912) I. 240, I believe those long years of anxiety have stamped themselves on my face. 1850 Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) I. i. 3 The native ferocity of the people is stamped upon its earliest traditions. 1867 J. H. Parker Introd. Gothic Archit. (ed. 3) 256 The character of each century is stamped upon its architecture. |