encampment
Americannoun
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an act or instance of encamping; lodgment in a camp.
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the place or quarters occupied in camping; camp.
noun
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the act of setting up a camp
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the place where a camp, esp a military camp, is set up
Etymology
Origin of encampment
Explanation
An encampment is a temporary area made up of tents or other makeshift shelters set up by campers, soldiers, or people without permanent homes. An encampment can provide shelter, community, and a base of operations, whether for recreation, protest, or military purposes. Encampments may pop up when people are displaced by war, natural disasters, or other hardships. Sometimes people create an encampment at a music festival or during a protest so that there is a place to stay and rest without having to leave the area.
Vocabulary lists containing encampment
Road Home
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Novel Study: The Grapes of Wrath, Chapters 13–21
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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.
The white-robed pilgrims on buses or on foot arrived at the sprawling encampment in Mina after performing the "tawaf" -- walking seven times around the Kaaba, the giant black cube at Mecca's Grand Mosque.
From Barron's • May 25, 2026
Those aboard the train had been on their way to Quetta's main railway station from a nearby military encampment, officials said.
From BBC • May 24, 2026
At the entrance of a sprawling military encampment some 100 kilometres away from Derna, a towering portrait of Haftar overlooked the scene.
From Barron's • May 17, 2026
Raman said it was her responsibility to lobby for more encampment operations.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
Given the UN encampment was on the road to the airport, I knew I was beginning the journey north of Kinshasa, with half a mile of marsh separating me from the river.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
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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.