boot camp

noun

|Updated on: 10 Aug 2018

Definition of boot camp

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

See boot camp defined for English-language learners

See boot camp defined for kids

Recent Examples of boot camp from the Web

Everything from a system has gone down, like the OPM breach that happened a few years ago, or a Visa processing system at the State Department or a database that helps people sign up for boot camp.

— recode staff, Recode, "Full transcript: Matt Cutts of the U.S. Digital Service on Recode Decode," 12 July 2018
Additional security clearances were added before recruits could go to boot camp.

— renae reints, Fortune, "The U.S. Army Is Abruptly Discharging Immigrant Enlistees Previously Headed Toward Citizenship, Lawyers Say," 6 July 2018
In response, the military layered on additional security clearances for recruits to pass before heading to boot camp.

— martha mendoza and garance burke, chicagotribune.com, "Immigrant PhD candidate rocked by sudden U.S. Army discharge," 6 July 2018
In response, the military layered on additional security clearances for recruits to pass before heading to boot camp.

— CBS News, "U.S. Army abruptly discharging immigrant recruits: AP," 6 July 2018
DevCodeCamp, a 12-week boot camp for people wanting to become software developers and coders, began reaching out to veterans in Milwaukee last fall once the Forever GI Bill was signed into law.

— meg jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Ex-soldiers enlist in 'boot camp' again — this time, to learn software coding," 23 Mar. 2018
In response, the military layered on additional security clearances for recruits to pass before heading to boot camp.

— CBS News, "U.S. Army abruptly discharging immigrant recruits: AP," 6 July 2018
In response, the military layered on additional security clearances for recruits to pass before heading to boot camp.

— author: martha mendoza, garance burke, Anchorage Daily News, "The US Army is quietly discharging immigrant recruits," 5 July 2018
Witnesses on social media posted videos showing a single-engine red plane flying erratically along the shoreline before the aircraft landed on the boot camp beach.

— joseph a. gambardello, Philly.com, "Man sought for landing plane at restricted Coast Guard beach at the Shore surrenders," 27 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'boot camp.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of boot camp

1916

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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BOOT CAMP Defined for English Language Learners

boot camp

noun

Definition of boot camp for English Language Learners

: a camp where people who have recently joined the U.S. Army, Navy, or Marine Corps receive their basic training
: a short but very difficult training program : a program or situation that helps people become much better at doing something in a short period of time