decamp
Americanverb (used without object)
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to depart from a camp; to pack up equipment and leave a camping ground.
We decamped before the rain began.
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to depart quickly, secretly, or unceremoniously.
The band of thieves decamped in the night.
verb
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to leave a camp; break camp
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to depart secretly or suddenly; abscond
Other Word Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing decamp
The Last Lecture
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The House of the Scorpion
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This Week In Culture: August 22–28, 2020
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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.
As his threat made the rounds in Iran, many residents prepared for power and gas to go out and debated whether it would be safer to stay in the city or decamp for the countryside.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 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
Novelist Michelle Huneven and her husband, Jim Potter, had just welcomed evacuees into their Altadena home early on Jan. 8 when they realized they’d all have to decamp.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 1, 2025
Gates was now in his senior year, and somehow he managed to convince his teachers to let him decamp for Bonneville under the guise of an independent study project.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
