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

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, who lived in Rochdale, 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 • Jan. 22, 2026

Everybody in Cam’s platoon has something to prove or an internalized inadequacy to overcome, which is what drew him to boot camp, too.

From Salon • Oct. 10, 2025

At McNulty, gym is more like boot camp.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko