decamp

American  

[dih-kamp] / dɪˈkæmp /

verb (used without object)

• decamps,
  present (3rd person singular)
• decamped,
  past participle,  past
• decamping
  present participle

1. to depart from a camp; to pack up equipment and leave a camping ground.

   We decamped before the rain began.

2. to depart quickly, secretly, or unceremoniously.

   The band of thieves decamped in the night.

---

decamp British  

/ dɪˈkæmp /

verb

1. to leave a camp; break camp

2. to depart secretly or suddenly; abscond

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• decampment
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• decamping
  present
• decamped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• decamp
  simple
• decamps
  simple
• have decamped
  perfect
• has decamped
  perfect
• am decamping
  progressive
• are decamping
  progressive
• is decamping
  progressive
• have been decamping
  perfect progressive
• has been decamping
  perfect progressive

Past

• decamped
  simple
• had decamped
  perfect
• was decamping
  progressive
• were decamping
  progressive
• had been decamping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will decamp
  simple
• will have decamped
  perfect
• will be decamping
  progressive
• will have been decamping
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of decamp

1670–80; < French décamper, equivalent to dé- dis- ¹ + camper to encamp; see camp ¹

Explanation

When you decamp, you leave or depart very suddenly, or in secret. If your rent in Brooklyn keeps going up, you may decide to decamp to New Jersey. Use the verb decamp when people scram — especially when they relocate a household or a business to a new location. You'll probably be disappointed when your favorite pizza place decamps to another neighborhood, or if your best friend's family decamps to Canada. The word was originally a military term, literally meaning "leave camp," from the French décamper, from des-, "apart or away," and camp, "open space for military exercises."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

decamp decamps decamped decamping

After most OpenAI employees threatened to decamp to Microsoft, the directors reversed course.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

Then, of course, there is the added perk of the private beach, a rare draw in an area where Manhattanites regularly decamp during the warmer summer months.

From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026

Barron’s Karishma Vanjani writes that overseas investors’ desire to decamp from Treasuries is already a concern.

From Barron's ● Jan. 23, 2026

Oo Oo had refused to decamp and took shelter in the village monastery instead, knowing that the military would not attack Buddhist sites.

From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2025

The principal spoke with such gravity that Christine and her classmates worried they might have to pack up their books and decamp for the other side of town at that very moment.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Trump has referred to the 504-acre property that he purchased in 2002 as his Summer White House, and he frequently decamps there for the weekends when it is too hot in Palm Beach, Fla.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

Exhibit A: the band decamps to New Orleans to record their next record.

From Salon ● Mar. 24, 2026

And I’ve spent the last two Sundances readying to let this town go when the festival decamps for Boulder, Colo., in 2027.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2026

Dudamel is 42 years old, and will have been at the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 17 years by the time he decamps for New York, a long tenure.

From New York Times ● May 31, 2023

To avoid this twofold peril, it decamps before the door is closed, before the July Halictus sets her house in order.

From Bramble-Bees and Others by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos

Six years after Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, quit royal duties and decamped to the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

In nearby Habana Vieja, the historic city center, nine families who decamped from a collapsed building three years ago are still living in a boxing gym.

From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026

Such caution frustrated a number of company researchers, some of whom decamped.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 7, 2026

Administration officials would not immediately confirm whether the troops had decamped.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025

A male physician who for a time had rented an office in the castle and who had befriended Holmes—they were seen together often—also had decamped, with no word to anyone.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

He later relocated to Paris and became a film producer and distributor, before decamping to Mexico in 1938, just before the outbreak of World War II.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

Groq’s staff learned that their CEO and other top leaders were decamping for the chip giant on Christmas Eve.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026

He had asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to lay the groundwork for the summit with the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov; to make sure there was a point in decamping to Budapest.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2025

For generations, Mexican immigrants have landed in this area before decamping to Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2024

This lawsuit tormented me beyond measure, and took up so much of my time that I often thought of decamping in despair from the country.

From Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini by John Addington Symonds