summer camp

noun

plural summer camps

1

: a camp (see camp entry 1 sense 1d) for children or adolescents that operates during the summer and that often provides lodging for stays of days or weeks

… traditional summer camps—where your child rides a horse, paddles a canoe, reads a compass, and roasts s'mores around a campfire …

—David Lansing

… summer camp is about campfires, trail hikes and goofy skits. It's a chance to meet kids from different cities and to learn to sleep through the snores of cabin mates.

—Emily Seftel

also : such a camp that provides instruction of a specified kind

went to an arts summer camp

compare day camp

2

: an online usually educational program for children or adolescents offered during the summer

… a virtual summer camp offering free classes in everything from slime-making to dinosaurs to make-your-own Lego movies. Kids aged five through 18 can create their own schedule, with hour-long classes five days a week for each session.

—Lisa Milbrand

Examples of summer camp in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Understandably not wanting summer camp to end, Jacob hatches a plot to make a break for it and relocate to an old, similarly Jewish camp that was left abandoned decades ago. — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 17 Sep. 2026

Her story follows her to Camp Gowonagin, the same summer camp beloved original American Girl character Molly McIntire attended decades earlier. — Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2026

Jenea Mandan has cycled through feelings of anger and shame about sending her children to the church’s summer camp. — Savannah Peters, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2026

Faculty in the center will engage with the middle school students by contributing to curricula already being taught in schools, as well as summer camps and afterschool programs. — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 7 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1882, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for summer camp

• firedamp
• amp
• champ
• clamp
• cramp
• damp
• gamp
• lamp
• ramp
• samp
• scamp
• stamp