stampede

noun

stam·pede | \ (ˌ)stam-ˈpēd

Definition of stampede

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a wild headlong rush or flight of frightened animals

2 : a mass movement of people at a common impulse

3 : an extended festival combining a rodeo with exhibitions, contests, and social events

stampede

verb

stampeded; stampeding

Definition of stampede (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to cause to run away in headlong panic

2 : to cause (a group or mass of people) to act on sudden or rash impulse

intransitive verb

1 : to flee headlong in panic

2 : to act on mass impulse

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Examples of stampede in a Sentence

Noun

a stampede to the exits a stampede to buy the stock a stampede of new applicants

Verb

People stampeded to the exits. The gunshot stampeded the cattle.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Ever notice how often media stampedes start in the age of Trump, only to vanish without apology or even acknowledgment upon colliding with reality? — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "Manafort Destiny," 13 Mar. 2019 Photo: john david mercer/Reuters On the ensuing possession, with the Crimson Tide stampede breathing down their necks, the Bulldogs went for a fake punt. — Andrew Beaton, WSJ, "The Unlikely Hero Who Saved Alabama’s Season," 1 Dec. 2018 Released early Thanksgiving evening, the short clip delivers some of the movie’s most iconic moments, including Simba’s introduction on Pride Rock, as well as the dramatic stampede scene. — Christian Allaire, Vogue, "Everybody Loves The Lion King’s New Teaser Trailer," 23 Nov. 2018 Visit in autumn to witness the annual Buffalo Roundup, where cowboys initiate a stampede to corral the 1,400-pound animals to sort and brand them; or visit year-round to view the bison from the safety of a jeep tour. — Tyler Moss, Condé Nast Traveler, "8 Best Places to See Wildlife in the U.S.," 23 Apr. 2018 Violent brawls and fatal stampedes are now a frightening normality, and shootings and stabbings — while rare — have made headlines. — Rebekka Ayres, Teen Vogue, "Black Friday, Explained: A Complete History," 23 Nov. 2018 In many ways, this stampede toward passive investing — in which people put their money into funds that track indexes and broader market themes as opposed to relying on human stock pickers — is uncharted territory. — Landon Thomas Jr., New York Times, "One Cause of Market Turbulence: Computer-Driven Index Funds," 9 Feb. 2018 Others may want to avoid a stampede and instead rebalance gradually. — Asjylyn Loder, WSJ, "Investors Aren’t Following Facebook, Google Out of Tech Funds," 8 Oct. 2018 One caveat: Those forecasts include the effect of higher ticket prices, rather than just a stampede of filmgoers to the cinema. — Anousha Sakoui, The Seattle Times, "Despite Netflix, movie theaters had best summer in decades," 3 Sep. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Spartanburg Christian senior Grayson Ray once had the temerity to stand in the paint as Williamson stampeded in his direction with a full head of steam. — Andrew Beaton, WSJ, "The Few. The Proud. The Players Who Have Been Run Over by Zion Williamson.," 5 Dec. 2018 The victims, eight of whom were younger than 18, suffered either asphyxia or trauma to the body as hundreds of clubgoers stampeded to escape the fumes. — Rachelle Krygier, Washington Post, "Tear gas triggers stampede at Venezuela nightclub, resulting in 17 deaths," 16 June 2018 This morning, many Americans woke up to their local news channel running B-roll of wild-eyed customers stampeding into a Dick’s Sporting Goods or Best Buy or Macy’s. — Aditi Shrikant, Vox, "Why some brands aren’t offering Black Friday deals," 23 Nov. 2018 Apart from the gluttony of my French jaunt, the other reason for my return was an unfortunate incident at a Bruno Mars concert: I was stampeded by a group of overzealous fans and broke my wrist and back. — Irena Medavoy, Town & Country, "How to Detox Like a Hollywood Power Player," 5 Nov. 2018 Shoppers stampeded through a Long Island, New York, Walmart's doors and trampled a worker there. 3. — Meredith Bodgas, Woman's Day, "The 5 Craziest Things Ever to Happen on Black Friday," 20 Nov. 2014 Realistically, the 60 million Americans currently earning less than $15 per hour (plus many retirees and longtime labor force dropouts) would also stampede into this program. — Brian Riedl, Vox, "America might be ready for democratic socialism. It’s not ready for the bill.," 7 Aug. 2018 The subplots keep stampeding past before a viewer has a chance to corral them. — Hank Stuever, chicagotribune.com, "A gruff Kevin Costner has a hard time corralling 'Yellowstone's' wild herd of subplots," 14 June 2018 The victims, eight of whom were younger than 18, suffered either asphyxia or trauma to the body as hundreds of clubgoers stampeded to escape the fumes. — Rachelle Krygier, Washington Post, "Tear gas triggers stampede at Venezuela nightclub, resulting in 17 deaths," 16 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'stampede.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near stampede

Statistics for stampede

Last Updated

21 Mar 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for stampede

The first known use of stampede was in 1828

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More Definitions for stampede

stampede

noun

English Language Learners Definition of stampede

(Entry 1 of 2)

: an occurrence in which a large group of frightened or excited animals or people run together in a wild and uncontrolled way to escape from something, get out of a place, etc.

: a situation in which a lot of people try to do the same thing at the same time

stampede

verb

English Language Learners Definition of stampede (Entry 2 of 2)

: to run away in a large group from something especially because of fear

: to cause (animals) to run away in a large group

: to cause (a person or a group of people) to do something suddenly and without proper thought

See the full definition for stampede in the English Language Learners Dictionary

stampede

noun

stam·pede | \ stam-ˈpēd