n.
- A place where tents, huts, or other temporary shelters are set up, as by soldiers, nomads, or travelers.
- A cabin or shelter or group of such buildings: gathered branches and grasses for a makeshift camp; had a fishing camp in Vermont.
- The people using such shelters: a howl that awakened the whole camp.
- 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.
- Sports. A place where athletes engage in intensive training, especially preseason training.
- The people attending the programs at such a place.
- Military service; army life.
- 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.
- To make or set up a camp.
- To live in or as if in a camp; settle: We camped in the apartment until the furniture arrived.
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 (kămp)
n.
- An affectation or appreciation of manners and tastes commonly thought to be artificial, vulgar, or banal.
- Banality, vulgarity, or artificiality when deliberately affected or when appreciated for its humor: "Camp is popularity plus vulgarity plus innocence" (Indra Jahalani).
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 camp'y adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
