campaign

[kam-peyn]

See more synonyms for campaign on Thesaurus.com

noun

Military.
1. military operations for a specific objective.
2. Obsolete.the military operations of an army in the field for one season.
a systematic course of aggressive activities for some specific purpose: a sales campaign.
the competition by rival political candidates and organizations for public office.

verb (used without object)

to serve in or go on a campaign: He planned to campaign for the candidate. He campaigned in France.

verb (used with object)

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

Origin of campaign

1620–30; < French campagne < Italian campagna < Late Latin campānia level district, equivalent to Latin camp(us) field + -ān(us) -an + -ia -ia

Related formscam·paign·er, nouncoun·ter·cam·paign, nounpre·cam·paign, noun, adjectivere·cam·paign, verbun·cam·paign·ing, adjective

Synonyms for campaign

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2. drive, effort, push, offensive.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for campaigner

agitator, zealot, campaigner, promoter, proponent, backer, lawyer, defender, supporter, radical, champion, progressive, counsel, exponent, spokesperson, apostle, attorney, speaker, expounder, pleader

Examples from the Web for campaigner

Contemporary Examples of campaigner

Voter fraud isn't our problem,” said Matthew Singer, a veteran ‘get out the vote’ campaigner, “Terribly managed systems [are].
GOP-Backed Voter Fraud Laws Aim To Disenfranchise Students
Jake Heller
September 4, 2012
Fouad Abaza, a Shafiq campaigner in the Nile Delta, listened on the radio to the press conference in Cairo, cheering along.
Egypt’s Fractious Presidential Race Reflects a Country Deeply Divided
Lauren Bohn
June 14, 2012
Obama remains the most vulnerable incumbent in modern memory, and Mitt is certainly improving as a campaigner.
Mitt Romney’s Unfavorable Ratings Have Been Rising Since Iowa
Andrew Romano
February 1, 2012
In fact, one of the appealing things about Cain the campaigner is that he seems to be having fun.
'Tired' Cain Campaign Slows Down
Howard Kurtz
October 28, 2011
Those closest to her thought she had lost her effectiveness as a campaigner.
'Tricky Dick' vs. the Pink Lady
Sally Denton
November 16, 2009

Historical Examples of campaigner

Whispering Smith was too experienced a campaigner to complain.
Whispering Smith
Frank H. Spearman
Jim was too old a campaigner to put these even in the coat on which he was asleep.
Frontier Boys in Frisco
Wyn Roosevelt
I am too old a campaigner to have any qualms, and in such a case as this the act is justified.
In the grip of the Mullah
F. S. Brereton
That is one of the prime requisites of the campaigner upon the plains.
How Marcus Whitman Saved Oregon
Oliver W. Nixon
The personal outfit of a campaigner in the wilderness is not very elaborate.
How to Travel
Thomas W. Knox

British Dictionary definitions for campaigner

campaign

noun

a series of coordinated activities, such as public speaking and demonstrating, designed to achieve a social, political, or commercial goala presidential campaign; an advertising campaign
military a number of complementary operations aimed at achieving a single objective, usually constrained by time or geographic area

verb

(intr often foll by for) to conduct, serve in, or go on a campaign

Derived Formscampaigner, noun

Word Origin for campaign

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for campaigner

campaign

1701, from campaign (n.). Political sense is from 1801. Related: Campaigned; campaigning.

campaign

1640s, "operation of an army in the field," from French campagne "campaign," literally "open country," from Old French champagne "countryside, open country" (suited to military maneuvers), from Late Latin campania "level country" (source of Italian campagna, Spanish campaña, Portuguese campanha), from Latin campus "a field" (see campus). Old armies spent winters in quarters and took to the "open field" to seek battle in summer. Extension of meaning from military to political is American English, 1809.