Stamp \Stamp\, n.
1. The act of stamping, as with the foot.
2. The which stamps; any instrument for making impressions on
other bodies, as a die.
'T is gold so pure It can not bear the stamp without
alloy. --Dryden.
3. The mark made by stamping; a mark imprinted; an
impression.
That sacred name gives ornament and grace, And, like
his stamp, makes basest metals pass. --Dryden.
4. that which is marked; a thing stamped.
hanging a golden stamp about their necks. --Shak.
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.]
At Venice they put out very curious stamps of the
several edifices which are most famous for their
beauty and magnificence. --Addison.
6. An offical 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.
7. Hence, a stamped or printed device, 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
receipt stamp, etc.
8. An instrument for cutting out, or shaping, materials, as
paper, leather, etc., by a downward pressure.
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.
Of the same stamp is that which is obtruded on us,
that an adamant suspends the attraction of the
loadstone. --Sir T.
Browne.
10. Make; cast; form; character; as, a man of the same stamp,
or of a different stamp.
A soldier of this season's stamp. --Shak.
1. 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 bathing.
12. A half-penny. [Obs.]
--au. & Fl.
13. pl. Money, esp. paper money. [Slang, U.S.]
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 an void.
Stamp collector, an officer who receives or collects stamp
duties; one who collects postage or other stamps.
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.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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