stampede

From Mexican Spanish estampida (“a stampede”), estampido (“a crackling”), akin to estampar (“to stamp”).

• (US) IPA^(key): /stæmˈpiːd/
• Rhymes: -iːd

• Audio (US)

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stampede (plural stampedes)

1. A wild, headlong scamper, or running away, of a number of animals; usually caused by fright; hence, any sudden flight or dispersion, as of a crowd or an army in consequence of a panic.

   Synonyms: rush, flight, crush, jam, trampling

   • 1873, William Black, A Princess of Thule

     She and her husband would join in the general stampede.

2. (by extension) A situation in which many people in a crowd are trying to go in the same direction at the same time.

   Synonym: rush

   The annual Muslim Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which is attended by millions of pilgrims, has increasingly suffered from stampedes.

   • 1912 October, Jack London, “The Stampede to Squaw Creek”, in Smoke Bellew, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co, OCLC 632405541, page 75:

     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.

   • 2019 October, Chris Stokes, “Between the Lines”, in Modern Railways, page 97:

     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.

3. (figurative) Any sudden unconcerted moving or acting together of a number of persons, as from some common impulse.

   a stampede toward US bonds in the credit markets

• → German: Stampede

stampede (third-person singular simple present stampedes, present participle stampeding, simple past and past participle stampeded)

1. (intransitive) To run away in a panic; said of cattle, horses, etc., also of armies.
2. (transitive) To disperse by causing sudden fright, as a herd or drove of animals.
   • 1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter 3, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, OCLC 6868219:

     Cattle are usually quiet after dark. Still I've known even a coyote to stampede your white herd.

3. (of people) To move rapidly in a mass.
   • 2020 May 20, Stefanie Foster, “Comment: Safety first: now more than ever”, in Rail, page 3:

     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.

• stepdame