tent city

noun

plural tent cities
: a collection of many tents set up in an area to provide usually temporary shelter (as for people who don't have a permanent place of residence)
Tent cities of displaced homeowners have sprung up …Matt Woolsey
Anti-sweatshop protesters at FSU pitched a tent city last March to demand that the school join the Workers Rights Consortium …Meline Toumani et al.

Examples of tent city in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
During the revolution, which lasted three months, Parubiy was the head of an enormous tent city established by thousands of protesters in Kyiv’s central Independence Square, known as the Maidan. Daria Tarasova-Markina, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2025 This tent also hauntingly echoes the original tent cities created during the Nakba of 1948, when 750,000 Palestinians fled their homes and became refugees. Philip Metres august 27, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2025 While there is no official count on matters like the numbers of tent cities or public defecation, data from the National Alliance to End Homelessness shows that in 2023, there were about 181,000 people living homeless in California, compared to just under 31,000 in Florida. Andrew Stanton, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Aug. 2025 Detaining the 'worst of the worst' The Fort Bliss facility known locally as Camp East Montana rises like a white tent city on a flat desert plain. Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 24 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for tent city

Word History

First Known Use

1838, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of tent city was in 1838

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Cite this Entry

“Tent city.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tent%20city. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

Kids Definition

tent city

noun
: a group of many tents set up to provide usually temporary shelter (as for displaced or homeless people)
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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