campaign
Americannoun
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the competition by rival political candidates and organizations for public office.
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a systematic course of aggressive activities for some specific purpose.
a sales campaign.
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Military.
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military operations for a specific objective.
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Obsolete. the military operations of an army in the field for one season.
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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)
verb (used with object)
noun
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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
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military a number of complementary operations aimed at achieving a single objective, usually constrained by time or geographic area
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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campaignsimple
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campaignssimple
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have campaignedperfect
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has campaignedperfect
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am campaigningprogressive
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are campaigningprogressive
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is campaigningprogressive
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have been campaigningperfect progressive
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has been campaigningperfect progressive
Past
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campaignedsimple
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had campaignedperfect
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was campaigningprogressive
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were campaigningprogressive
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had been campaigningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of campaign
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
Explanation
A campaign is any series of actions or events that are meant to achieve a particular result, like an advertising campaign of television commercials and Internet ads that tries to convince kids to buy bubble gum-flavored toothpaste. The noun campaign describes any group of actions that are done with an ultimate purpose in mind. The goal of a political campaign is to put a candidate in office. The goal of a military campaign might be to take over a city, as in General Sherman's Civil War campaign to capture Atlanta. Campaign can also be used as a verb, like when an environmental organization campaigns to prevent a developer from building a shopping mall by asking people to sign petitions and soliciting their members of congress.
Vocabulary lists containing campaign
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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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.
Yes, there is also Argentina, which faces tiny Cape Verde on Friday—though La Albiceleste’s campaign has largely been the Leo Messi one-man show.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 1, 2026
Activity in Asia and the U.S. led the global campaign uptick in the first six months of the year.
From Barron's • Jul. 1, 2026
After two winning seasons, Mattingly was in the hot seat with the Dodgers in last place early in the 2013 campaign.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 1, 2026
As well as the campaign by the Royal College of Midwives, NHS England used to discourage trusts from performing caesarean sections, encouraging them to limit such procedures to around 20% of birth.
From BBC • Jun. 30, 2026
Miss Kellog, the teacher, required our class to follow the 1960 presidential campaign.
From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez
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.
