DCHP-1 Online
stampede ((v.)) † [< n.] 
1a v. of animals, rush headlong in wild flight.
- 1888 (1890) We hoped to have gone, though it was a ride of over twenty miles, but all the ponies had stampeded except Adela's, and as they were nowhere to be found we had to give it up.
- 1914 Last time we tried it the pony stampeded and the wheel went over my foot.
- 1963 After days in the hot fly-time . . . cattle stampeded over the prairie. . . .
1b v. cause (animals) to rush away in wild flight.
- 1908 If a snow storm caught the travelers, it was an easy matter for marauding Indians to stampede the horses and plunder packs.
- 1949 As they approached the precipice, the Indians increased their pace and, with a final rush, stampeded the animals [buffalo] over the edge.
2a v. of persons, take part in a goldrush ; take off in haste to a place where a strike has been reported.
- 1898 On every new discovery she's sure to have a claim,/She stampedes like a whirlwind and she gets there just the same.
- 1898 That the diggings along Birch Creek were deserted signifies nothing more than that miners are prone to stampede to any district which has the appearance of greater richness than the one wherein they are at work.
- 1951 "The prospectors who stampeded through here around '98 on their way to the Yukon had a pretty good trick," Brad mentioned.
2b v. cause (persons) to rush unthinkingly into a course of action.
- 1912 At that the lady attracted attention by screaming, so the third shot stampeded poor Jones.
- 1917 The Borden press is very nervous and will pull everything but a gun in order to stampede the voters to the Borden camp.
- 1924 Efforts are being made by various agencies to use the present condition as a club to stampede the men and disgust them with their Organization.
3 v. enter (a region) in large numbers in search of gold.
- 1900 Besides, there drifted down the river . . . ludicrous accounts of the che-cha-quas who had rushed in and were stampeding the whole country.
- 1900 . . . the country was stampeded and staked by a tidal wave of che-cha-quas. . . .
- 1888 (1890) We hoped to have gone, though it was a ride of over twenty miles, but all the ponies had stampeded except Adela's, and as they were nowhere to be found we had to give it up.