camper
Americannoun
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a person who camps out for recreation, especially in the wilderness.
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a person who attends a summer camp or day camp.
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Also called pickup camper, truck camper. a trucklike vehicle, van, or trailer that is fitted or suitable for recreational camping, or a pickup truck on which a structure fitted for camping is mounted.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a person who lives or temporarily stays in a tent, cabin, etc
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a vehicle equipped for camping out
Etymology
Origin of camper
1625–35; 1960–65 camper for def. 3; camp 1 + -er 1
Explanation
Anyone who regularly hikes into the woods, pitches a tent, and spends the night under the stars, snuggled into a sleeping bag, is a camper. People who go camping are campers, whether they sleep under the stars, in a cabin, or in a fancy Winnebago. And if you do have a recreational vehicle, you can say you're a camper who sleeps in your camper! The common colloquial phrase happy camper was coined in the 1980s: when you're a happy camper, you're as content as a kid who's having a blast at summer camp, paddling canoes on the lake and eating s'mores by the fire.
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.
Reyne told Gil he knew who had done it, but Gil wouldn’t let him punish the accused camper without proof, and anything close to that had turned to ash.
From Slate • Mar. 25, 2026
Kelly Norton, 50, spends a good chunk of the year travelling around Europe in her camper van along with her husband and their 11-year-old dog Vinny.
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026
She and A$AP Rocky, 37 years old, were inside an Airstream camper on their property at the time of the shooting, Hochman said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026
The former actor Leo Grillo met the man in a camper at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2026
He reached the far side of the roots and looked ahead to see how far they were from the camper.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
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.
