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

Fitness buffs can spend time in the well equipped gym or sign up for beachside yoga, a boot camp class or go for a hike. —Sherrie Nachman, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025

High temperature: 103 degrees (1956) Low temperature: 46 degrees (1982) Precipitation: 1.56 inches (1901) Snowfall: Trace (1920) 1911: Naval Station Great Lakes — the U.S. Navy’s largest training base and home of its only boot camp — opened near North Chicago on 172 acres. —Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 1 July 2025

Burrell remained on the series for a whopping 27 seasons through 2024, mentoring a new team of inexperienced cooks through culinary boot camp every season. —Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 17 June 2025

Sauro was one of 150 young people at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington that evening who were herded onto buses halfway through the game to begin their overnight journey to Marine Corps boot camp in San Diego. —Nick Woltman, Twin Cities, 15 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1916, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for boot camp

• decamp
• encamp
• headlamp
• preamp
• revamp
• timestamp
• amp
• champ
• clamp
• cramp
• damp
• gamp

Kids Definition

boot camp

noun

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