camp follower

noun

|Updated on: 21 Jul 2018

Examples: camp follower in a Sentence

Definition of camp follower

1 : a civilian (such as a prostitute) who follows a military unit to attend or exploit military personnel

2 : a disciple or follower who is not of the main body of members or adherents; especially : a politician who joins the party or movement solely for personal gain

See camp follower defined for English-language learners

Examples of camp follower in a Sentence

the famous boxer and his camp followers

Recent Examples of camp follower from the Web

There’s the near-noirish play between dark and light captured by Tripe in an Indian temple or the Yvonne De Carlo expression (speaking of almost noirish) on the face of a camp follower in a Fenton Crimean War photograph.

— mark feeney, BostonGlobe.com, "At Yale: on the threshold and under the volcano," 6 July 2018
Her mother, Sophie Delaborde, the daughter of a bird seller on the Rue de Rivoli, was a camp follower of the Napoleonic troops in Madrid.

— benita eisler, WSJ, "‘George Sand’ Review: Monstre Sacré," 8 June 2018
The trio of revisionist powers includes Russia, China and Iran, along with camp followers like Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea and Syria.

— walter russell mead, WSJ, "Toothless Gestures Won’t Stop Putin," 19 Mar. 2018

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

First Known Use of camp follower

1810

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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CAMP FOLLOWER Defined for English Language Learners

camp follower

noun

Definition of camp follower for English Language Learners

: a person who spends time with or near a group or person in order to gain some advantage
: a person who follows a group of soldiers as they move to different areas and sells goods and services to them