camp

/kæmp/

/kæmp/

Other forms: camps; camped; camping; camply

When you camp, you set up a temporary place to sleep outdoors, often in a tent. Many people like to camp in a beautiful spot, like the mountains or beside a lake.

Use the word camp to describe what you do when you sleep under the stars, and also the site itself — after a day of hiking, you could say, "Let's head back to camp." You can also talk about your usual group of friends or co-workers as your camp. Political parties are described this way sometimes: "She was popular in the Democratic camp." The root is the Latin word campus, which means "open field, or level space."

Definitions of camp

1. noun

   temporary lodgings in the country for travelers or vacationers
   “level ground is best for parking and camp areas”

   types:

   tennis camp

   a camp where tennis is taught

   trailer camp, trailer park

   a camp where space for house trailers can be rented; utilities are generally provided

   type of:

   housing, living accommodations, lodging

   structures collectively in which people are housed
2. noun

   temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers
   “wherever he went in the camp the men were grumbling”

   synonyms: bivouac, cantonment, encampment

   types:

   boot camp

   camp for training military recruits

   hutment

   an encampment of huts (chiefly military)

   laager, lager

   a camp defended by a circular formation of wagons

   type of:

   military quarters

   living quarters for personnel on a military post
3. noun

   a site where care and activities are provided for children during the summer months
   “city kids get to see the country at a summer camp”

   synonyms: summer camp

   types:

   day camp

   a camp providing care and activities for children during the daytime

   type of:

   land site, site

   the piece of land on which something is located (or is to be located)
4. noun

   shelter for persons displaced by war or political oppression or for religious beliefs
   synonyms: refugee camp

   type of:

   shelter

   temporary housing for homeless or displaced persons
5. noun

   a penal institution (often for forced labor)
   “China has many camps for political prisoners”

   types:

   concentration camp, stockade

   a camp where prisoners or persecuted minorities are forcibly confined, usually under harsh conditions

   labor camp, labour camp

   a penal institution for political prisoners who are used as forced labor

   POW camp, internment camp, prison camp, prisoner of war camp

   a camp for prisoners of war

   prison camp, prison farm, work camp

   a camp for trustworthy prisoners employed in government projects

   death camp

   a concentration camp where prisoners are likely to die or be killed

   gulag

   a Russian prison camp for political prisoners

   type of:

   penal facility, penal institution

   an institution where persons are confined for punishment and to protect the public
6. noun

   a group of people living together in a camp
   “the whole camp laughed at his mistake”

   types:

   hobo camp, jungle

   a place where hoboes camp

   type of:

   assemblage, gathering

   a group of persons together in one place
7. verb

   establish or set up a camp
   synonyms: camp down

   type of:

   pitch, set up

   erect and fasten
8. verb

   live in or as if in a tent
   “Can we go camping again this summer?”

   “The houseguests had to camp in the living room”

   synonyms: bivouac, camp out, encamp, tent

   type of:

   dwell, inhabit, live, populate

   inhabit or live in; be an inhabitant of
9. adjective

   providing sophisticated amusement by virtue of having artificially (and vulgarly) mannered or banal or sentimental qualities
   “they played up the silliness of their roles for camp effect”

   synonyms: campy

   tasteless

   lacking aesthetic or social taste
10. noun

    something that is considered amusing not because of its originality but because of its unoriginality
    “the living room was pure camp”

    type of:

    staleness, triteness

    unoriginality as a result of being dull and hackneyed
11. verb

    give an artificially banal or sexual quality to
    type of:

    alter, change, modify

    cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
12. noun

    an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose
    synonyms: clique, coterie, ingroup, inner circle, pack

    types:

    Bloomsbury Group

    an inner circle of writers and artists and philosophers who lived in or around Bloomsbury early in the 20th century and were noted for their unconventional lifestyles

    bohemia

    a group of artists and writers with real or pretended artistic or intellectual aspirations and usually an unconventional life style

    brain trust, kitchen cabinet

    an inner circle of unofficial advisors to the head of a government

    loop

    an inner circle of advisors (especially under President Reagan)

    cabal, camarilla, faction, junto

    a clique (often secret) that seeks power usually through intrigue

    junta, military junta

    a group of military officers who rule a country after seizing power

    maffia, mafia

    any tightly knit group of trusted associates

    faction, sect

    a dissenting clique

    galere, rogue's gallery

    a coterie of undesirable people

    hard core

    the most dedicated and intensely loyal nucleus of a group or movement

    splinter group

    a faction or sect that has broken away from its parent organization

    left, left wing

    those who support varying degrees of social or political or economic change designed to promote the public welfare

    right, right wing

    those who support political or social or economic conservatism; those who believe that things are better left unchanged

    old guard

    a faction that is unwilling to accept new ideas

    pro-choice faction

    those who argue that the decision to have an induced abortion should be made by the mother

    pro-life faction

    those who argue that induced abortion is killing and should be prohibited

    type of:

    band, circle, lot, set

    an unofficial association of people or groups