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• rubber stamp
  rubber stamp

  noun

  a device with a rubber printing surface that becomes coated with ink by being pressed on an ink-saturated pad, used for imprinting dates, addresses, standard designations or notices, etc., by hand.
• rubber-stamp
  rubber-stamp

  verb (used with object)

  to imprint with a rubber stamp.

rubber stamp

¹ American  

noun

1. a device with a rubber printing surface that becomes coated with ink by being pressed on an ink-saturated pad, used for imprinting dates, addresses, standard designations or notices, etc., by hand.

2. a person or government agency that gives approval automatically or routinely.

3. such approval.

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rubber-stamp ² American  

[ruhb-er-stamp] / ˈrʌb ərˈstæmp /

verb (used with object)

1. to imprint with a rubber stamp.

2. to give approval automatically or without consideration.

   to rubber-stamp the president's proposals.

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adjective

1. tending to give approval automatically or without due consideration.

   a rubber-stamp Congress that passed all the president's bills.

rubber stamp British  

noun

1. a device used for imprinting dates or commonly used phrases on forms, invoices, etc

2. automatic authorization of a payment, proposal, etc, without challenge

3. a person who makes such automatic authorizations; a cipher or person of little account

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verb

1. to imprint (forms, invoices, etc) with a rubber stamp

2. informal to approve automatically

rubber stamp Idioms  

1. A person or organization that automatically approves or endorses a policy without assessing its merit; also, such an approval or endorsement. For example, The nominating committee is merely a rubber stamp; they approve anyone the chairman names, or The dean gave his rubber stamp to the recommendations of the tenure committee. This metaphoric term alludes to the rubber printing device used to imprint the same words over and over. [Early 1900s]

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Etymology

Origin of rubber stamp¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Origin of rubber-stamp²

First recorded in 1915–20; v. use of rubber stamp

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rubber stamp rubber-stamp

The board approves the EDC’s annual budget but when it comes to approving actual projects, it largely functions as a final rubber stamp.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

That would leave only a few formal steps -- a final rubber stamp by member states expected in coming days or weeks, and publication in the EU's official journal -- for it to take effect.

From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026

Checks on Andrew's trips were given a "rubber stamp", he recalls, rather than any scrutiny.

From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2026

By the late 1850s, Northerners were equally fed up with the Supreme Court, which under Chief Justice Roger B. Taney was seen as a rubber stamp for slaveholders’ goals.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2025

First there came mimeographed letters of commendation, then real letters signed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and not with a rubber stamp either.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

But it is far from a rubber-stamp process.

From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026

The stage is set for China's biggest political gathering - carefully choreographed annual meetings of the political advisory body and the rubber-stamp national legislature.

From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026

Thousands of delegates from across China will convene for a carefully orchestrated affair in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, largely to rubber-stamp decisions by the ruling Communist Party under leader Xi Jinping.

From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026

With Erivo’s Elphaba taking a backseat to Ariana Grande’s Glinda this time around, Actors Awards voters hesitated to rubber-stamp her ticket.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2026

On the back, to his great delight, he discovered a rubber-stamp legend, which was nothing more or less than a cheap advertisement of the dealer who had sold the cigars.

From A Husband by Proxy by Jack Steele