camp follower
noun
plural camp followers
1
: a civilian who follows a military unit to attend or exploit military personnel
The first "armies"—actually collections of knights, armed peasants and camp followers—resembled outings more than columns on the march.—
David Kahn
David KahnAt first there was little fighting and much cavorting with camp followers resulting in an outbreak of syphilis in Naples that decimated the army …—Wayne Biddle
Wayne Biddle2
: someone who follows a well-known individual or group (such as a politician or sports team)
… the players have a certain contempt for the fans, abusing the camp followers, called "Baseball Annies," and refusing to sign autographs for the kids.—Robert Lipsyte
Robert LipsyteAll during the campaign in the constituencies, I was struck by the kindness and decency of citizens who had every reason to be bored with politicians and their journalist camp followers.—Bernard Nossiter
Bernard Nossiter3
: a disciple or follower who is not part of the main body of members or adherents
Each group will have … its camp followers trying to ingratiate themselves, its bored veterans who secretly dream of escape.—Ken Early
Ken EarlyExamples of camp follower in a Sentence
the famous boxer and his camp followers
Recent Examples on the Web
Suspicion quickly flared into insurgency, and when the British pulled out of Kabul in 1842 with a convoy of 16,000 troops and camp followers, only a single survivor (the assistant surgeon William Brydon) reached the border town of Jalalabad alive.
—Jonah Blank, Foreign Affairs, 19 Aug. 2011
The women in the sketch were part of a controversial group known as camp followers: wives, widows, runaways and others who marched with the Continental Army.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Mar. 2024
Republican politicians have been calling on Biden to curb inflation, but there isn’t much a president can really do except raise taxes, which of course the GOP and their Democratic camp follower Joe Manchin oppose.
—Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 27 July 2022
As an insurgent, Mr. Trump arrived in Washington without the camp followers of brand-name lobbyists and insiders who set up shop with each new administration.
—New York Times, 8 Dec. 2019
There’s the near-noirish play between dark and light captured by Tripe in an Indian temple or the Yvonne De Carlo expression (speaking of almost noirish) on the face of a camp follower in a Fenton Crimean War photograph.
—Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, 6 July 2018
Her mother, Sophie Delaborde, the daughter of a bird seller on the Rue de Rivoli, was a camp follower of the Napoleonic troops in Madrid.
—Benita Eisler, WSJ, 8 June 2018
The trio of revisionist powers includes Russia, China and Iran, along with camp followers like Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea and Syria.
—Walter Russell Mead, WSJ, 19 Mar. 2018
Jonah Blank, Foreign Affairs, 19 Aug. 2011
The women in the sketch were part of a controversial group known as camp followers: wives, widows, runaways and others who marched with the Continental Army.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Mar. 2024
Republican politicians have been calling on Biden to curb inflation, but there isn’t much a president can really do except raise taxes, which of course the GOP and their Democratic camp follower Joe Manchin oppose.
—Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 27 July 2022
As an insurgent, Mr. Trump arrived in Washington without the camp followers of brand-name lobbyists and insiders who set up shop with each new administration.
—New York Times, 8 Dec. 2019
There’s the near-noirish play between dark and light captured by Tripe in an Indian temple or the Yvonne De Carlo expression (speaking of almost noirish) on the face of a camp follower in a Fenton Crimean War photograph.
—Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, 6 July 2018
Her mother, Sophie Delaborde, the daughter of a bird seller on the Rue de Rivoli, was a camp follower of the Napoleonic troops in Madrid.
—Benita Eisler, WSJ, 8 June 2018
The trio of revisionist powers includes Russia, China and Iran, along with camp followers like Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea and Syria.
—Walter Russell Mead, WSJ, 19 Mar. 2018
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'camp follower.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Camp follower.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/camp%20follower. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
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