A sudden panicked rush or flight of people or animals, usually triggered by fear or alarm.
From Spanish 'estampida,' itself from 'estampar' (to stamp or crash). The word originally referred to horses stampeding and entered English in the mid-1800s from the American Southwest.
The word crossed from Spanish to English during the Wild West era when cattle stampedes were a real danger on the frontier—a sudden noise could cause hundreds of panicked cattle to charge in the same direction!
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