stampede
Syllables: stam·pedeUK/stæmˈpiːd//stæmˈpid/
stampede noun: a wild, headlong running away or scamper of a number of animals, usually caused by fright.
Noun
stampede (plural stampedes)
- A wild, headlong running away or scamper of a number of animals, usually caused by fright.
- [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.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...
- 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."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
- 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.
- The annual Muslim Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which is attended by millions of pilgrims, has increasingly suffered from stampedes.
- 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.1912 October, Jack London, “The Stampede to Squaw Creek”, in Smoke Bellew, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co, →OCLC, page 75
- An event at which cowboy skills are displayed; a rodeo.
- 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
- 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.1873, William Black, “Sheila’s Stratagem”, in A Princess of Thule. […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 299
Verb
stampede (third-person singular simple present stampedes, present participle stampeding, simple past and past participle stampeded)
- To cause (a drove or herd of animals) to run away or scamper in a wild, headlong manner, usually due to fright.
- Cattle are usually quiet after dark. Still I've known even a coyote to stampede your white herd.1912 January, Zane Grey, “Amber Spring”, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, page 35
- To cause animals (owned by a person) to run away or scamper in this manner.
- Synonyms:
- stampedo
- To cause (people in a crowd) to move in the same direction at the same time, especially due to panic.
- To cause (an individual) to act hastily or rashly.
- I was stampeded into buying an unnecessary insurance against earthquakes, fires, and flooding.
- To cause (people) to act in a sudden unconcerted manner due to, or as if due to, some common impulse.
- Of a drove or herd of animals: to run away or scamper in a wild, headlong manner, usually due to fright.
- 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.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
- Of people in a crowd: to move in the same direction at the same time, especially due to panic.
- 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.2020 May 20, Stefanie Foster, “Comment: Safety First: Now More than Ever”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3
- Of people: to act in a sudden unconcerted manner due to, or as if due to, some common impulse.
stampede meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
stampede in Hindi
- crowd trying to move in the same direction at the same time
- भगदड़ bhagdaṛ
stampede in Tamil
- நெரிசலில் மிதிபடுதல், மிரண்டு ஒடுதல், மிரண்டோடல், மிரளோட்டம், பீதியோட்டம், நெரிசலோட்டம்
stampede in Marathi
- चेंगराचेंगरी, चेंगराचेंगरीला, चेंगराचेंगरीची
stampede in Urdu
- crowd trying to move in the same direction at the same time
- بھگدڑ bhagdaṛ
More languagesFewer languages
- stampede in Bengali
- হুড়োহুড়ি, ছত্রভঙ্গ দৌড়
- stampede in Telugu
- తొక్కిసలాట
- stampede in Malayalam
- മൃഗക്കൂട്ടത്തിൻറെ വിറളിയോട്ടം, കൂട്ടയോട്ടം, വിരണ്ടോട്ടം
- stampede in Kannada
- ದಿಕ್ಕುಗೆಟ್ಟ ಪಲಾಯನ, ನುಗ್ಗಾಟ, ನೂಕುನುಗ್ಗಲು, ನೂಕಾಟ
- stampede in Punjabi
- گھڑمس ghaṛmass, ਘੜਮੱਸ ghaṛmassa
- stampede in Nepali
- भगदड़
- stampede in Arabic
- تَدَافُع tadāfuʕ, هَرْج harj
- stampede in Malay
- rempuhan
- stampede in Indonesian
- rempuhan
- stampede in Persian
- پاسپار pâsepâr
Examples of stampede in a sentence
- Off in the distance, he heard the thunder of hoofbeats, signalling a stampede.
- A wave of shoppers stampeded through the door when the store opened for its Christmas discount special.
- There was a mad stampede to the fire exits.
Synonyms of stampede
Forms of stampede
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | stampedes |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | stampedes |
| present participle | stampeding |
| past participle | stampeded |
| past | stampeded |
Origin of stampede
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.
Words formed from stampede
Words that rhyme with stampede
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- weed
- proceed
- concede
- accede
- deed
- exceed
- need
- bede
- knead
- mislead
- plead
- rede
- swede
- cede
- creed
- godspeed
- heed
- intercede
- keyed
- leed
- meed
- precede
- recede
- tumbleweed
- a friend in need is a friend indeed
- beread
- greed
- he'd
- indeed
- interbreed
- kneed
- mead
- secede
- she'd
- sneed
- steed
- supersede
- underfeed
- we'd
- ye'd
- agreed
- anasheed
- aniseed
- atheed
- caid
- co-feed
- cofeed
- counterplead
Questions about stampede
- What does stampede mean?
- Stampede means a wild, headlong running away or scamper of a number of animals, usually caused by fright.
- What is stampede in Hindi?
- Stampede in Hindi is भगदड़ (bhagdaṛ). See Stampede meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is stampede?
- Stampede can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce stampede?
- Stampede is pronounced /stæmˈpiːd/ (UK).
- What is the plural of stampede?
- The plural of stampede is stampedes.
Words near stampede in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: stampede (page history and authors); stampede (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); stampede (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); stampede (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); stampede (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); stampede (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); stampede (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); گھڑمس (Punjabi) (page history and authors); stampede (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-stampede.ogg.
Cite this entry: “stampede.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/stampede. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.