Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Stamp?

\Stamp\v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Stamped}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Stamping}.] [OE. stampen; akin to LG. & D. stampen, G. stampfen, OHG. stanpf?n, Dan. stampe, Sw. stampa, Icel. stappa, G. stampf a pestle and E. step. See {Step}, v. i., and cf. {Stampede}.] 1. To strike beat, or press forcibly with the bottom of the foot, or by thrusting the foot downward. --Shak. He frets, he fumes, he stares, he stamps the ground. --Dryden. 2. To bring down (the foot) forcibly on the ground or floor; as, he stamped his foot with rage. 3. To crush; to pulverize; specifically (Metal.), to crush by the blow of a heavy stamp, as ore in a mill. I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small. --Deut. ix. 21. 4. To impress with some mark or figure; as, to stamp a plate with arms or initials. 5. Fig.: To impress; to imprint; to fix deeply; as, to stamp virtuous principles on the heart. God . . . has stamped no original characters on our minds wherein we may read his being. --Locke. 6. To cut out, bend, or indent, as paper, sheet metal, etc., into various forms, by a blow or suddenly applied pressure with a stamp or die, etc.; to mint; to coin. 7. To put a stamp on, as for postage; as, to stamp a letter; to stamp a legal document. {To stamp out}, to put an end to by sudden and energetic action; to extinguish; as, to stamp out a rebellion.
\Stamp\, v. i. 1. To strike; to beat; to crush. These cooks how they stamp and strain and grind. --Chaucer. 2. To strike the foot forcibly downward. But starts, exclaims, and stamps, and raves, and dies. --dennis.
\Stamp\, n. 1. The act of stamping, as with the foot. 2. The which stamps; any instrument for making impressions on other bodies, as a die. 'T is gold so pure It can not bear the stamp without alloy. --Dryden. 3. The mark made by stamping; a mark imprinted; an impression. That sacred name gives ornament and grace, And, like his stamp, makes basest metals pass. --Dryden. 4. that which is marked; a thing stamped. hanging a golden stamp about their necks. --Shak. 5. [F. estampe, of german origin. See {Stamp}, v. t.] A picture cut in wood or metal, or made by impression; a cut; a plate. [Obs.] At Venice they put out very curious stamps of the several edifices which are most famous for their beauty and magnificence. --Addison. 6. An offical mark set upon things chargeable with a duty or tax to government, as evidence that the duty or tax is paid; as, the stamp on a bill of exchange. 7. Hence, a stamped or printed device, issued by the government at a fixed price, and required by law to be affixed to, or stamped on, certain papers, as evidence that the government dues are paid; as, a postage stamp; a receipt stamp, etc. 8. An instrument for cutting out, or shaping, materials, as paper, leather, etc., by a downward pressure. 9. A character or reputation, good or bad, fixed on anything as if by an imprinted mark; current value; authority; as, these persons have the stamp of dishonesty; the Scriptures bear the stamp of a divine origin. Of the same stamp is that which is obtruded on us, that an adamant suspends the attraction of the loadstone. --Sir T. Browne. 10. Make; cast; form; character; as, a man of the same stamp, or of a different stamp. A soldier of this season's stamp. --Shak. 11. A kind of heavy hammer, or pestle, raised by water or steam power, for beating ores to powder; anything like a pestle, used for pounding or bathing. 12. A half-penny. [Obs.] --au. & Fl. 13. pl. Money, esp. paper money. [Slang, U.S.] {Stamp act}, an act of the British Parliament [1765] imposing a duty on all paper, vellum, and parchment used in the American colonies, and declaring all writings on unstamped materials to be null an void. {Stamp collector}, an officer who receives or collects stamp duties; one who collects postage or other stamps. {Stamp duty}, a duty, or tax, imposed on paper and parchment used for certain writings, as deeds, conveyances, etc., the evidence of the payment of the duty or tax being a stamp. [Eng.] {Stamp hammer}, a hammer, worked by power, which rises and falls vertically, like a stamp in a stamp mill. {Stamp head}, a heavy mass of metal, forming the head or lower end of a bar, which is lifted and let fall, in a stamp mill. {Stamp mill} (Mining), a mill in which ore is crushed with stamps; also, a machine for stamping ore. {Stamp note}, a stamped certificate from a customhouse officer, which allows goods to be received by the captain of a ship as freight. [Eng.] {Stamp office}, an office for the issue of stamps and the reception of stamp duties.