from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Stamp \Stamp\, n.
1. The act of stamping, as with the foot.
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2. The which stamps; any instrument for making impressions on
other bodies, as a die.
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'T is gold so pure
It can not bear the stamp without alloy. --Dryden.
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3. The mark made by stamping; a mark imprinted; an
impression.
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That sacred name gives ornament and grace,
And, like his stamp, makes basest metals pass.
--Dryden.
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4. That which is marked; a thing stamped.
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Hanging a golden stamp about their necks. --Shak.
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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.]
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At Venice they put out very curious stamps of the
several edifices which are most famous for their
beauty and magnificence. --Addison.
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6. An official 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.
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7. Hence: A stamped or printed device, usually paper, 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
tax stamp; a receipt stamp, etc.
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8. An instrument for cutting out, or shaping, materials, as
paper, leather, etc., by a downward pressure.
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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.
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Of the same stamp is that which is obtruded on us,
that an adamant suspends the attraction of the
loadstone. --Sir T.
Browne.
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10. Make; cast; form; character; as, a man of the same stamp,
or of a different stamp.
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A soldier of this season's stamp. --Shak.
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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 beating.
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12. A half-penny. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.
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13. pl. Money, esp. paper money. [Slang, U.S.]
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{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 and void.
{Stamp collector},
(a) an officer who receives or collects stamp duties.
(b) one who collects postage or other stamps, as an
avocation or for investment; a philatelist.
{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.
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