camp

/kæmp/

Friendly

Sure! Let's break down the word "camp" in an easy-to-understand way.

Definition of "Camp"

1. As a Noun:

   • Summer Camp: A place where children go during the summer to have fun and learn new things. For example, "City kids get to see the country at a summer camp."
   • Shelter: A place for people who have been forced to leave their homes, often due to war or political reasons. For example, "There are many camps for political prisoners."
   • Temporary Living Area: A place where people can stay for a short time, like travelers camping outdoors. "We set up our tent at the camp by the lake."
   • Group of People: A collection of individuals living or working together, often for a common purpose. "The whole camp laughed at his mistake."

2. As a Verb:

   • To Camp: This means to live temporarily in a tent or outdoor shelter. For example, "Can we go camping again this summer?"

3. As an Adjective (Advanced Usage):

   • Campy: This describes something that is exaggerated, silly, or over-the-top in a way that is entertaining. For example, "They played up the silliness of their roles for a camp effect, like in the campy Hollywood musicals of the 1940s."

Usage Instructions

• Use "camp" as a noun when referring to a place or group (like summer camp or a group of people).
• Use "camp" as a verb when you talk about the action of living in a tent or similar temporary shelter.
• Use "campy" as an adjective to describe something that is intentionally exaggerated or silly.

Examples

• Noun: "Every summer, I go to camp with my friends."
• Verb: "We decided to camp by the beach this weekend."
• Adjective: "The movie was so campy that we couldn’t stop laughing!"

Word Variants

• Camping (noun/verb): The activity of staying in a camp or in a tent.
• Camper (noun): A person who goes camping or a vehicle used for camping.

Different Meanings

• "Camp" can refer to outdoor activities and shelters but can also describe a style of entertainment that is deliberately exaggerated or silly.

Synonyms

• For Summer Camp: Retreat, holiday camp.
• For Shelter: Refuge, encampment.
• For Exaggerated Style: Kitsch, melodrama.

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

• "Camp out": To sleep outside in a tent.
  • Example: "We plan to camp out in the backyard this weekend."
• "In camp": Referring to being in a group with a shared purpose or belief.
  • Example: "He felt more comfortable in camp with people who shared his views."

Conclusion

The word "camp" can refer to a fun place for kids, a temporary shelter, or even a style of humor that is over-the-top.

Academic

Adjective

1. 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

Noun

1. 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
2. shelter for persons displaced by war or political oppression or for religious beliefs
3. something that is considered amusing not because of its originality but because of its unoriginality
   • the living room was pure camp
4. a penal institution (often for forced labor)
   • China has many camps for political prisoners
5. an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose
6. temporary lodgings in the country for travelers or vacationers
   • level ground is best for parking and camp areas
7. a group of people living together in a camp
   • the whole camp laughed at his mistake
8. temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers
   • wherever he went in the camp the men were grumbling

Verb

1. give an artificially banal or sexual quality to
2. establish or set up a camp
3. 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

Synonyms

• campy
• summer camp
• refugee camp
• clique
• coterie
• ingroup
• inner circle
• pack
• encampment
• cantonment
• bivouac
• camp down
• encamp
• camp out
• tent