stamp

Fig. the place where one was raised or where one has spent a lot of time. (There are variants with stomping and grounds.) Ann should know about that place. It's near her old stamping ground. I can't wait to get back to my old stomping grounds.

to extinguish a fire by stamping on it. Quick, stamp that fire out before it spreads. Tom stamped out the sparks before they started a fire.

to strike down hard on someone or something with the bottom of the foot. The attacker stamped on his victim after he had knocked him down. Walter stamped on a spider.

to label someone or something as something; to mark someone or something as something. His manner stamped him as a fool. The committee stamped the proposal as wasteful.

to affix a label onto someone or something with something; to apply a particular message or symbol onto someone or something, as with a rubber stamp. Judy stamped everyone who went into the dance with a symbol that showed that each had paid admission. Mary stamped the bill with the PAID symbol.

Sl. to get rid of or kill someone. (Fig. on stamp something out.) You just can't stamp somebody out on your own! The victim wanted to stamp out the robbers without a trial.

to affix an informative label onto something, as with a rubber stamp. she stamped her name and address onto all her books. Tom stamped his identification onto all his papers and books.

Fig. to eliminate something. The doctors hope they can stamp cancer out. Many people think that they can stamp out evil.

Fig. to eliminate a characteristic of someone or something; to destroy a characteristic of someone or something. I would really like to stamp that mean streak out of you. We were not able to stamp the excess costs out of the proposal and had to reject it. We couldn't stamp out their bad behavior.

to affix an informative label onto someone or something, as with a rubber stamp. (Upon is formal and less commonly used than on.) The attendant stamped a date upon each person who entered the dance hall. The person at the door stamped something on my hand when I came in.

to stop or destroy something How long have we been trying to stamp out drugs? Everyone enjoys these games, although some people want to stamp them out.

if you say you could write what you know about a subject on the back of a postage stamp, you mean you know very little about that subject What I know about car maintenance could be written on the back of a postage stamp.

a place where you regularly spend a lot of time I spent an afternoon in Camden, my old stomping ground.

if someone rubber-stamps a decision or a plan, they give it official approval, often without thinking about it enough School governors will not simply rubber-stamp what teachers have already decided. The court was asked to rubber-stamp the Department's decision to free the men.

A person or organization that automatically approves or endorses a policy without assessing its merit; also, such an approval or endorsement. For example, The nominating committee is merely a rubber stamp; they approve anyone the chairman names , or The dean gave his rubber stamp to the recommendations of the tenure committee. This metaphoric term alludes to the rubber printing device used to imprint the same words over and over. [Early 1900s]

Also, old stamping ground. A habitual or favorite haunt, as in Whenever we visit, we go back to our old stamping ground, the drugstore nearest the high school . This term alludes to a traditional gathering place for horses or cattle, which stamp down the ground with their hooves. [Early 1800s]

Extinguish or destroy, as in The government stamped out the rebellion in a brutal way, or The police were determined to stamp out drug dealers. This metaphoric expression alludes to extinguishing a fire by trampling on it. [Mid-1800s]

Trading stamps. The most popular of the trading stamps that shoppers collected from the end of the 19th century through the 1980s were S&H (Sperry & Hutchinson) Green Stamps. Supermarket chains, department stores, service stations, and other retailers bought the stamps, then gave them to shoppers in quantities and denominations based on how much the shoppers spent in the store. The object was to create customer loyalty. Shoppers then cashed in the stamps at redemption centers or by mail and received household and sporting goods as well as other items. “Do you give Green Stamps?” was a frequent question, and not always to retailers. A would-be wit might ask a dinner party hostess serving a platter of food, “Do I get Green Stamps with that?” Said often enough, it was enough to make the rest of the gathering lose their appetites.