stamp out

/stæmp aʊt/

Other forms: stamped out; stamping out; stamps out

To stamp out something is to end it. You might have learned at summer camp how to stamp out a fire, or to put it out quickly by stepping on it.

To stamp out a campfire is to extinguish it, or put it out; to stamp out something figuratively means the same thing. For example, a teacher might try to stamp out her students' collective anger about a difficult pop quiz, or a dictator might stamp out any hint of revolution in his country. This common verb was first used in the mid-1850's, originally in the sense of "put out a fire."

Definitions of stamp out

1. verb

   end or extinguish by forceful means
   “Stamp out poverty!”

   synonyms: kill

   type of:

   end, terminate

   bring to an end or halt