boot camp
Americannoun
noun
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slang a basic training camp for new recruits to the US Navy or Marine Corps
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a centre for juvenile offenders, with a strict disciplinary regime, hard physical exercise, and community labour programmes
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of boot camp
An Americanism dating back to 1940–45
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One way to free up monthly cash flow is by adjusting how much you’re withholding in taxes, Joy, who runs the money boot camp “Crush Your Money Goals,” says.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 20, 2026
At Chico State, Matthew Hernandez, a senior computer science major, enrolled in both a computer science boot camp, funded through Destino, and a calculus boot camp in the summer before his freshman year.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 3, 2026
Rush also auditioned for ITV talent show The X Factor in 2016, and made it as far as the "six-chair challenge", the stage between boot camp and judges' houses.
From BBC • Dec. 18, 2025
He spent $17,000 on an 11-week coding boot camp.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025
From what I know now, having talked over the years to many other jarheads—as we Marines call ourselves— my experiences at boot camp were a lot like those of every man who entered the Marines.
From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
