day camp
- noun
- /deɪ kæmp/
- This summer, we enrolled our children in a fun day camp that offers arts and crafts, sports, and swimming.
- summer day camp
- day camp offered
I worked at a day camp, which was like, for like super rich kids, and I taught them how to swim.
- I worked at a day camp, which was like, for like super rich kids, and I taught them how to swim.
- So there's a brochure here for the different things one could do for six weeks camp, day camp style.
- But you do when you you have little kids, you're feel like all you're doing all day long is creating a day camp.
Examples
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One hundred day camp children aged 7-12 years provided data for this investigation through completion of a brief written questionnaire.
Academic text (2005) -
The second is a day camp that runs from July 9 to 13.
Blog text (27) -
Are these all for day camp tomorrow?
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Is this the day camp?
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"You go to day camp, you come home, and you stay inside."
Fiction book (2000) -
I thought the whole purpose of a day camp was sending the kids home at the end of the day.
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And Katie and Mary are already at day camp.
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The general day camp curriculum focused on a specific skill each day.
Academic text (2005) -
We're getting the house renovated, and her daughter's in day camp.
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Fifty-two students in grades 3 through 8 participated in the day camp.
Academic text (1995)
Synonyms
Care for children during the day while their parents work
A place where children stay away from home in summer to join activities
A place where young children are looked after while parents work
A place where adults look after young children during the day while their parents work
How Residential
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a camp that runs during the daytime without overnight stays' is directly and transparently derived from 'day' modifying 'camp' to indicate a temporal (daytime) restriction on a camp. This straightforward modifier+noun composition follows common English and cross‑linguistic patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both words can reliably infer the meaning.
Etymology
Day camp comes from combining day and camp. A 'camp' often meant staying overnight, so a day camp ran only during the day and let children go home at night, which is why it means 'a camp without overnight care'.