[-ING1.]
1. The action of STAMP v., in various senses.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, VII. 269. Bot he had schort quhil at the met Sittyn, quhen he herd gret stampyng About the hous.
a. 1400–50. Wars Alex., 781. Quat of stamping of stedis & stering of bernes, All dymed þe dale & þe dust ryses.
1550. Edw. VI., Jrnl., in Burnet, Hist. Ref., II. II. II. (1681), 35. The Lords at London having tryed all kinds of Stamping,… proved that without any loss, but sufferable, the Coin might be brought to eleven ounces fine.
1630. R. Johnson, Kingd. & Commw., 598. (China) Their Printing is but stamping, like our great Letters or Gaies cut in wood; for they cut many words in one peece, and then stampe it off in paper.
1720. Swift, Poems, Irish Feast. A mercy the ground Did not burst with their stamping.
1882. Caulfeild & Saward, Dict. Needlework, Stamping … is a method adopted for producing a pattern on cotton, silk, or woollen stuffs, having a stiff raised pile on the face.
1897. Flandrau, Harvard Episodes, 184. Such a cruel stamping out of youth and strength and happiness at the very beginning.
¶ The imposition of a stamp tax (on a country).
1766. Franklin, Exam., Wks. 1887, III. 450. While the stamping of America was under consideration, and before the bill was brought in.
2. concr. a. pl. The materials pounded or crushed.
1594. Plat, Jewell-ho., 71. Take the stampings of Crabs after the verjuice is expressed.
1678. Evelyn’s Pomona (ed. 5), 403. For Water-cider, take your stampings when you press them from the first liquor, and put them into tubs.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 707. The balls [of iron] are first worked under the forge-hammer; and these stampings being afterwards heated … are passed through the roughing rollers.
b. An article fashioned by stamping.
1862. Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit., II. No. 6189, Stampings and pressings of iron and steel for a variety of purposes.
1893. Daily News, 10 April, 6/4. There is a brisk business … in large stampings in the shape of bowls, lard tins, &c.
c. Ornamentation produced by stamping; stamped work.
1889. Amer. Publ. Weekly, 30 March, 489. The Work is … elegantly bound in imported cloth, gilt edge, with rich stamping in gold and silver.
1892. Photogr. Ann., II. 281. The fancy stamping all over the brasswork adding also considerably to a handsome appearance.
3. attrib. and Comb., as stamping-die, -engine, hammer, † -house, -iron (= pestle), -machine, -mill, -press, -rod; stamping ground U.S., an animal’s habitual place of resort; also transf.; stamping shop, the ‘shop’ in a needle-factory containing machinery for punching the eyes of needles.
With stamping-iron cf. OE. stęmpingísern ‘celon’ (Wr.-Wülcker, 203).
1845. Penny Cycl., Suppl. I. 221/2. Above is a press, to the lower end of which is attached the *stamping-die or device, face downwards.
1840. Mechanics’ Mag., XXXIII. 504/1. On the *Stamping Engines in Cornwall.
1836. [H. R. Howard], Hist. Virgil A. Stewart, 70 (R. H. Thornton, Amer. Gloss.). I made my way from Milledgeville to Williamson county, the old stamping-ground.
1870. W. M. Baker, New Timothy, xvi. 176 (Cent.). It’s with them fellows as it is with wild animals. You can just keep clear of them if you want, stay far out of their stamping-ground, hold yourself aloof all the time.
1834–6. Barlow, in Encycl. Metrop., VIII. 676/2. All but the very largest [utensils] are raised or sunk by the *stamping hammer.
1706. J. Stevens, Span.-Eng. Dict., s.v. Plata, [The silver] is cast into Bars, and carry’d to the King’s *Stamping-house, where it is try’d, and the Mark set upon it according to its Fineness.
1552. in P. H. Hore, Hist. Wexford (1901), [II.] 243. 4 *Stamping Irons [for the stamping mill].
1778. Pryce, Min. Cornub., 284. The Tin is … cool enough to sustain the stamping iron.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 1162. A *stamping-machine with dies.
1884. Knight, Dict. Mech., Suppl. Stamping Machine, for stamping the soles of boots and shoes with monogram or trade-mark.
1552. in P. H. Hore, Hist. Wexford (1901), [II.] 243. 2 gret pecs of Iron for the *stampying myll.
1855. J. R. Leifchild, Cornwall Mines, 27. A stamping mill, worked by steam, was erected at the very bottom of the excavation.
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, *Stamping-press, a press for imprinting, by a sunken die, bills of lading, notes, envelopes, drafts, etc.; [also] a crushing mill for ores.
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., III. 55. The rags, after macerating for many days…, were beaten by means of *stamping-rods shod with iron…; these worked in strong oak or stone mortars.
1862. Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit., II. No. 6449, The wires are taken to the *‘stamping shop,’ where the first germ of an eye is given to each half of every wire.
