stampede

plural stampedes

1. 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, →OCLC, page 227

   1 more example

   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

   Synonyms: crush, flight, jam, rush, stampedo, trampling

2. broadlyA 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.

   2 more examples

   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

   I asked the conductor if he would ask Chester to hold the 16.35 to Euston—the last through train on a Saturday—but he said Virgin won't hold anything. We came to a stand at Chester at 16.35, and there was a sizeable stampede down the platform for the London train, but it had gone.

   2019 October, Chris Stokes, “Between the Lines”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 97

   Synonyms: crush, rush

3. CanadaUSbroadlyAn event at which cowboy skills are displayed; a rodeo.
4. figurativelyA 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

   2 more examples

   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

   When the Credit Suisse's top investor, Saudi National Bank, told reporters last Wednesday it would not give more money to the bank, investors and depositors started a stampede for the exit, withdrawing hundreds of millions of dollars.

   2023 March 22, Philip Oltermann, “Switzerland's national pride dealt heavy blow by the merger of its banking titans”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 Nov 2023

present singular third person stampedes · participle present stampeding · participle past stampeded · past stampeded

1. transitiveTo 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

2. transitiveTo cause animals (owned by a person) to run away or scamper in this manner.

   Synonyms: stampedo

3. broadlytransitiveTo cause (people in a crowd) to move in the same direction at the same time, especially due to panic.
4. broadlytransitiveTo cause (an individual) to act hastily or rashly.

   I was stampeded into buying an unnecessary insurance against earthquakes, fires, and flooding.

5. figurativelytransitiveTo cause (people) to act in a sudden unconcerted manner due to, or as if due to, some common impulse.
6. intransitiveOf 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

7. broadlyintransitiveOf 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

8. figurativelyintransitiveOf people: to act in a sudden unconcerted manner due to, or as if due to, some common impulse.