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Added 9 October 2026

stampede

/stæmˈpiːd/ noun

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about stampede at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A headlong rush of people on a common impulse.
when he shouted `fire' there was a stampede to the exits
A wild headlong rush of frightened animals (horses or cattle).

verb

Cause to run in panic.
Thunderbolts can stampede animals
Cause a group or mass of people to act on an impulse or hurriedly and impulsively.
The tavern owners stampeded us into overeating
Act, usually en masse, hurriedly or on an impulse.
Companies will now stampede to release their latest software

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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