stampede means A wild, headlong running away or scamper of a number of animals, usually caused by fright. It carries an Arena rating of 1728, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, stampede ranks #14 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #121 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #456 of 42,747 for Qualifying, #458 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.
stampede is pronounced /stæmˈpiːd/.
Why “stampede” is a great word
A sudden, panicked, and often destructive mass flight of animals or people. From Mexican Spanish estampida (“a stampede”), from Spanish estampida, estampido (“a bang, a crack”), from Old Occitan estampida, from Gothic *stampjan, from Proto-Germanic *stampōną (“to compress, squeeze; to stamp”), from Proto-Indo-European *stembʰ- (“to trample down”). First attested in English in the early 19th century. Unlike a “crowd surge,” which describes a crush of physical pressure, or an “exodus,” which denotes a deliberate mass departure, a stampede is the physics of collective fear made flesh—an explosion of motion born in the gut, not the mind. It is the thunder of hooves churning dust into a blind fog, the brittle sound of fences giving way, the suffocating press in a narrow street where individual bodies cease to exist. It is the moment a collective mind snaps, reverting to a single, terrible instinct: flight.
Etymology
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.
noun
- A wild, headlong running away or scamper of a number of animals, usually caused by fright.
- 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.e.g.“The annual Muslim Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which is attended by millions of pilgrims, has increasingly suffered from stampedes.”
- 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.e.g.“a stampede toward US bonds in the credit markets”
verb
- To cause (a drove or herd of animals) to run away or scamper in a wild, headlong manner, usually due to fright.e.g.“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.
- 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.e.g.“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.
- Of people in a crowd: to move in the same direction at the same time, especially due to panic.
- Of people: to act in a sudden unconcerted manner due to, or as if due to, some common impulse.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.