camp definition

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