stamping ground

stamping ground (plural stamping grounds)

1. A habitually frequented place; a haunt or hangout.
   • 1890, William Booth, In Darkest England and the Way Out‎:

     Em and Mat keep the corridor without their room beautifully clean, and so it has become an especial favourite stamping ground for these vagrants.

   • 1913 August, Jack London, chapter XXIII, in John Barleycorn, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC:

     Had I been out on the adventure-path, I should as a matter of course have been drinking. For that is the pity of the adventure-path, which is one of John Barleycorn's favourite stamping grounds.

   • 1915 December 4 – 1916 January 8, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter X, in The Son of Tarzan, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., published March 1917, →OCLC:

     In their stamping grounds in the jungle the three were familiar figures. The little monkeys knew them well, often coming close to chatter and frolic about them.

• stomping ground

• hunting ground

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