boot camp

American  

noun

U.S. Navy, Marines.

1. a camp for training recruits.

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boot camp British  

noun

1. slang a basic training camp for new recruits to the US Navy or Marine Corps

2. a centre for juvenile offenders, with a strict disciplinary regime, hard physical exercise, and community labour programmes

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Etymology

Origin of boot camp

An Americanism dating back to 1940–45

Example Sentences

Bernadette Joy, founder of the financial boot camp Crush Your Money Goals, paid off $300,000 of debt in three years by making small, consistent changes to her behavior.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 11, 2026

Learning Alliance in Tampa, Fla., offers a six-week to eight-week boot camp, funded by military benefits and corporate donations, that trains students to install fiber.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 1, 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

Although she claims that Cam is her favorite kid, she only half-listens to him when he says he’s headed to boot camp, instructing him to return home with a carton of milk.

From Salon • Oct. 10, 2025

Papi had sobbed the day Carlos went off to boot camp.

From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer