stamping ground

American  

Or stomping ground

noun

1. a habitual or favorite haunt.

---

stamping ground British  

noun

1. a habitual or favourite meeting or gathering place

---

stamping ground Idioms  

1. Also, old stamping ground. A habitual or favorite haunt, as in Whenever we visit, we go back to our old stamping ground, the drugstore nearest the high school. This term alludes to a traditional gathering place for horses or cattle, which stamp down the ground with their hooves. [Early 1800s]

---

Etymology

Origin of stamping ground

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

Off-off-Broadway, the natural stamping ground of alternative theater, arose in opposition to compromised opposition.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 15, 2023

In retrospect, it feels entirely appropriate that the Wednesday Addams show should shoot in the murderous stamping ground of Vlad the Impaler, a.k.a.

From Los Angeles Times • May 31, 2023

"I would have thought it would be more William's stamping ground," says Lacey.

From BBC • Sep. 16, 2022

Soon, she was trying to figure out if she could order Korean beef ribs for dinner, a break from all the Haitian food she had been eating in her old stamping ground.

From New York Times • Apr. 1, 2022

Sort of look over the old stamping ground generally.

From "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston