camp

camp¹ (k

mp)

a. A place where tents, huts, or other temporary shelters are set up, as by soldiers, nomads, or travelers.

b. A cabin or shelter or group of such buildings: gathered branches and grasses for a makeshift camp; had a fishing camp in Vermont.

c. The people using such shelters: a howl that awakened the whole camp.

a. A place in the country that offers simple group accommodations and organized recreation or instruction, as for vacationing children: a girls' summer camp; a tennis camp.

b. Sports A place where athletes engage in intensive training, especially preseason training.

c. The people attending the programs at such a place.

3. Military service; army life.

4. A group of people who think alike or share a cause; side: The council members disagreed, falling into liberal and conservative camps.

v. camped, camp·ing, camps

v.intr.

1. To make or set up a camp.

2. To live in or as if in a camp; settle: We camped in the apartment until the furniture arrived.

v.tr.

To shelter or lodge in a camp; encamp: They camped themselves by a river.

[Obsolete French, perhaps from Italian or Spanish campo, all from Latin campus, field.]

camp² (k

mp)

1. An affectation or appreciation of manners and tastes commonly thought to be artificial, vulgar, or banal.

2. Banality, vulgarity, or artificiality when deliberately affected or when appreciated for its humor: "Camp is popularity plus vulgarity plus innocence" Indra Jahalani.

adj.

Having deliberately artificial, vulgar, banal, or affectedly humorous qualities or style: played up the silliness of their roles for camp effect.

v. camped, camp·ing, camps

v.intr.

To act in a deliberately artificial, vulgar, or banal way.

v.tr.

To give a deliberately artificial, vulgar, or banal quality to: camped up their cowboy costumes with chaps, tin stars, and ten-gallon hats.

[Origin unknown.]

campy adj.

camp ¹

Noun

1. a place where people stay in tents

2. a collection of huts and other buildings used as temporary lodgings for military troops or for prisoners of war

3. a group that supports a particular doctrine: the socialist camp

Verb

to stay in a camp [Latin campus field]

camper n
camping n

camp ² Informal

Adjective

1. effeminate or homosexual

2. consciously artificial, vulgar, or affected

Verb

camp it up to behave in a camp manner [origin unknown]

Camp Examples: camp of allegations, 1871; of arguments; of facts, 1566; of ideas, 1885; of lumbermen; of nomads; of potatoes [‘a heap’], 1700; of surveyors; of troops; of turnips [‘a heap’].

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun	1.	camp - temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers; "wherever he went in the camp the men were grumbling" bivouac, cantonment, encampment 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 military quarters - living quarters for personnel on a military post armed forces, armed services, military, military machine, war machine - the military forces of a nation; "their military is the largest in the region"; "the military machine is the same one we faced in 1991 but now it is weaker"
	2.	camp - a group of people living together in a camp; "the whole camp laughed at his mistake" assemblage, gathering - a group of persons together in one place hobo camp, jungle - a place where hoboes camp
	3.	camp - temporary lodgings in the country for travelers or vacationers; "level ground is best for parking and camp areas" housing, living accommodations, lodging - structures collectively in which people are housed 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
	4.	camp - an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose clique, coterie, ingroup, inner circle, pack band, circle, lot, set - an unofficial association of people or groups; "the smart set goes there"; "they were an angry lot" 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); "he's no longer in the loop" 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
	5.	camp - a penal institution (often for forced labor); "China has many camps for political prisoners" concentration camp, stockade - a penal camp where political prisoners or prisoners of war are confined (usually under harsh conditions) labor camp, labour camp - a penal institution for political prisoners who are used as forced labor penal facility, penal institution - an institution where persons are confined for punishment and to protect the public internment camp, POW camp, prison camp, prisoner of war camp - a camp for prisoners of war prison farm, work camp, prison camp - a camp for trustworthy prisoners employed in government projects
	6.	camp - something that is considered amusing not because of its originality but because of its unoriginality; "the living room was pure camp" staleness, triteness - unoriginality as a result of being dull and hackneyed
	7.	camp - shelter for persons displaced by war or political oppression or for religious beliefs refugee camp shelter - temporary housing for homeless or displaced persons
	8.	camp - 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" summer camp day camp - a camp providing care and activities for children during the daytime land site, site - the piece of land on which something is located (or is to be located); "a good site for the school"
Verb	1.	camp - live in or as if in a tent; "Can we go camping again this summer?"; "The circus tented near the town"; "The houseguests had to camp in the living room" bivouac, camp out, encamp, tent inhabit, live, populate, dwell - inhabit or live in; be an inhabitant of; "People lived in Africa millions of years ago"; "The people inhabited the islands that are now deserted"; "this kind of fish dwells near the bottom of the ocean"; "deer are populating the woods"
	2.	camp - establish or set up a camp camp down pitch, set up - erect and fasten; "pitch a tent"
	3.	camp - give an artificially banal or sexual quality to alter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue"
Adj.	1.	camp - 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"; "campy Hollywood musicals of the 1940's" campy tasteless - lacking aesthetic or social taste