boot camp
Americannoun
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boot camps
plural
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.
Most of the 1,500 entry-level U.S. new hires at Cognizant, the technology services and consulting firm, must start at boot camp, where they learn and practice foundational skills of programming and data structures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
With other actors he was put through a medical boot camp for speed learning of medical techniques and jargon.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
The kitchen scenes are a combo platter of boot camp, frat house hazing ritual and kung fu movie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
The CBC in those days was a bit like a boot camp for television.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
The training was more challenging than boot camp, mentally and physically.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
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.
