boot camp

noun

1

: a navy or marine corps camp for basic training

2

: a disciplinary facility or program in which young offenders are forced to participate in a rigidly structured routine

3

: a place or undertaking that resembles a military boot camp especially by requiring one to endure intensive training or initiation

Nowadays, the more talented players view their college years as necessary boot camp to prepare them for the riches waiting for them in pro football.

—Anson Mount

These youngsters are put through what amounts to a boot camp of courses in music notation, basic harmony and ear-training.

—Smithsonian

Examples of boot camp in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

One is off to compete around the globe, one is taking his trombone to boot camp and one is off to serve the poor. —Hanna Kang, Orange County Register, 3 June 2024

Cut off from music in boot camp, Specialist Brooks would hum Gustav Holst’s First Suite in E-flat while running laps. —Sarah Diamond Christopher Lee, New York Times, 27 May 2024

After the boot camp, participants will gather virtually every two months for continuing development seminars and be assigned a ProPublica senior editor as a mentor for advice on their work and careers. —Talia Buford, ProPublica, 21 May 2024

Participants will undergo a five-day intensive editing boot camp in New York, with courses and panel discussions led by ProPublica’s senior editors. —Talia Buford, ProPublica, 21 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1916, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

boot camp

noun

: a camp where recently enlisted members of the Navy or Marine Corps receive their basic training