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camp out

Idioms

Sleep outdoors; also, stay somewhere for an unusually long time. For example, “We camped out in a field this night” (George Washington, Journal, March 18, 1748). In the early 1900s, the expression was extended to figurative uses, meaning simply “to stay somewhere for an unusually long time,” as in She camped out at the stage door, hoping for an autograph.

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.

"I was literally in my back garden in London. I'd basically camp out and wait for whatever it was to come into the garden," he says.

From BBC • Jan. 19, 2026

As a fragile ceasefire holds, displaced Palestinian residents of Gaza City have returned to their homes only to find rubble, with many of them forced to camp out in makeshift shelters.

From Barron's • Oct. 16, 2025

Abby and her loyal band of former Fireflies camp out in a mountain lodge near the Jackson, Wyoming fort where Joel lives.

From Salon • Apr. 21, 2025

The crowd are howling for a knock-on in that phase, which saw Chiefs camp out near the try line.

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2024

Sometimes Roza was locked out all night, and she was forced to camp out on the lumpy lounge couches, a poem by Wislawa Szymborska beating in her head: Four a.m., no one feels fine.

From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023