camp out

Idioms  

1. 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.

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Example Sentences

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camp out

In-N-Out, which has fans willing to camp out in parking lots to attend grand openings, has added only four states to its footprint in the last decade.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

"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

“We could go back to the woods, camp out, wait until morning,” Juanita suggested as she stifled a yawn, laid her head back, and closed her eyes.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall