camp Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers
    encampment; bivouac; cantonment.
    • wherever he went in the camp the men were grumbling
  2. noun a group of people living together in a camp
    • the whole camp laughed at his mistake
  3. noun temporary lodgings in the country for travelers or vacationers
    • level ground is best for parking and camp areas
  4. noun an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose
    coterie; inner circle; ingroup; clique; pack.
  5. noun a penal institution (often for forced labor)
    • China has many camps for political prisoners
  6. noun something that is considered amusing not because of its originality but because of its unoriginality
    • the living room was pure camp
  7. noun shelter for persons displaced by war or political oppression or for religious beliefs
    refugee camp.
  8. noun a site where care and activities are provided for children during the summer months
    summer camp.
    • city kids get to see the country at a summer camp
  9. verb live in or as if in a tent
    bivouac; encamp; camp out; tent.
    • Can we go camping again this summer?
    • The circus tented near the town
    • The houseguests had to camp in the living room
  10. verb establish or set up a camp
    camp down.
  11. verb give an artificially banal or sexual quality to
  12. adjective satellite providing sophisticated amusement by virtue of having artificially (and vulgarly) mannered or banal or sentimental qualities
    campy.
    • they played up the silliness of their roles for camp effect
    • campy Hollywood musicals of the 1940's

WordNet

Camp noun
Etymology
F. camp, It. campo, fr. L. campus plant, fleld; akin to Gr. garden. Cf. Campaing, Champ, n.
Definitions
  1. The ground or spot on which tents, huts, etc., are erected for shelter, as for an army or for lumbermen, etc. Shzk.
  2. A collection of tents, huts, etc., for shelter, commonly arranged in an orderly manner.
    Forming a camp in the neighborhood of Boston. W. Irving.
  3. A single hut or shelter; as, a hunter's camp.
  4. The company or body of persons encamped, as of soldiers, of surveyors, of lumbermen, etc.
    The camp broke up with the confusion of a flight. Macaulay.
  5. (Agric.) A mound of earth in which potatoes and other vegetables are stored for protection against frost; -- called also burrow and pie. Prov. Eng.
  6. Cf. OE. & AS. camp contest, battle. See champion. An ancient game of football, played in some parts of England. Halliwell.
Camp transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Camped ; present participle & verbal noun Camping
Definitions
  1. To afford rest or lodging for, as an army or travelers.
    Had our great palace the capacity To camp this host, we all would sup together. Shak.
    >
Camp intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To pitch or prepare a camp; to encamp; to lodge in a camp; -- often with out.
    They camped out at night, under the stars. W. Irving.
  2. See Camp, n., 6 To play the game called camp. Prov. Eng. Tusser.

Webster 1913