campaign

[kam-peyn]

noun

1. the competition by rival political candidates and organizations for public office.

2. a systematic course of aggressive activities for some specific purpose.

   a sales campaign.

   Synonyms: offensive, push, effort, drive

3. Military.

   1. military operations for a specific objective.

   2. Obsolete.,  the military operations of an army in the field for one season.

4. a story in a role-playing game, spread out over multiple play sessions, that usually keeps the same plot, setting, or main characters.

   Last week we finished our campaign and I already miss it.

verb (used without object)

1. to serve in or go on a campaign.

   He planned to campaign for the candidate.

   My daughter has been campaigning for a later curfew for months.

verb (used with object)

1. to race (a horse, boat, car, etc.) in a number or series of competitions.

campaign

/ kæmˈpeɪn /

noun

1. a series of coordinated activities, such as public speaking and demonstrating, designed to achieve a social, political, or commercial goal

   a presidential campaign

   an advertising campaign

2. military a number of complementary operations aimed at achieving a single objective, usually constrained by time or geographic area

verb

1. to conduct, serve in, or go on a campaign

Other Word Forms

• campaigner noun
• countercampaign noun
• precampaign noun
• recampaign verb
• uncampaigning adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of campaign¹

First recorded in 1620–30; from French campagne, from Italian campagna, from Late Latin campānia “level district,” equivalent to Latin camp(us) “field” + -ān(us) -an + -ia -ia

Word History and Origins

Origin of campaign¹

C17: from French campagne open country, from Italian campagna, from Late Latin campānia, from Latin campus field

Example Sentences

The referendum result is a blow to Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa, who had campaigned to change the constitution in order to reverse a ban that the country's legislature passed in 2008.

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It followed a campaign by the environmental pressure group Greenpeace that exposed how soya grown on deforested land was being used in animal feed, including for chicken sold by McDonald's.

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The election campaign was dominated by crime and immigration, as migration to the country has grown in recent years and candidates pledged to fight foreign gangs like Venezuela's Tren de Aragua.

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Auschwitz was at the centre of the Nazi campaign to eradicate Europe's Jewish population, and almost one million of those who died at the site were Jews.

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Her words are part of a campaign for premature birth research charity Borne, of which she became a patron months after her daughter was born several weeks early.

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Related Words

• crusade 
• drive 
• fight 
• movement 
• offensive 
• operation 
• push