Word.ws English Dictionary

camp mother

camp mother noun: a woman in charge of housekeeping tasks in a camp. Also the alternative form of Camp Mother.

Noun (1)

camp mother (plural camp mothers)

  1. A woman in charge of housekeeping tasks in a camp.
    • The camp mother managed to keep the stomachs full and the beds in tip-top shape.1994, Albert VanderMey, And the Swamp Flourished, →ISBN
    • Roles for such women were few: Mrs. Perry adopted the role of “camp mother” for her husband's expedition in the arctic; years later, Hannah Breece took a position as teacher in remote arctic villages.2009, Daniel G. Payne, Writing the Land: John Burroughs and his Legacy, →ISBN, page 134
  2. (historical) A woman who took on the role of adoptive mother to a motherless girl in a concentration camp.
    • She became known as the little girl who sat on the steps of the TB Block, darting inside whenever she saw authorities, then going back to await the return of her camp mother.2000, Jack Gaylord Morrison, Ravensbrück, →ISBN, page 264
    • She recalls, for instance, songs about the loss of the mother which were sung in the camp at Stutthof (pp. 7-8) and in Auschwitz (p. 1 8). She often refers to the phenomenon of the "camp mother" or "camp daughter," where one woman would take another under her protection.2002, David Patterson, Alan L. Berger, Sarita Cargas, Encyclopedia of Holocaust Literature, →ISBN, page 134

Noun (2) capitalized: Camp Mother

Camp Mother (plural Camp Mothers)

  1. A woman employed to look after the youngest children at a summer camp.
    • It is no joke to be a "Camp Mother". When I think of it now, all the headaches she must have had. Here are some of the things she had to handle: — One girl was afraid of feathers; another girl afraid of cows;1975, St. David's Presbyterian Church (St. John's, N.L.), The Dissenting church of Christ at St. John's, 1775-1975, page 203
    • All campers swam, hiked, and attended campfires, but at many camps the youngest children had their own play spaces, a higher counselor-camper ratio, and the attention of a “Camp Mother” (often the wife or mother of the camp director), while the oldest children enjoyed special privileges such as...2010, Leslie Paris, Children's Nature: The Rise of the American Summer Camp, →ISBN, page 109
  2. A woman in charge of housekeeping and the supervision of campers at a summer camp.
    • At the bottom of the steep boat-house steps she paused a moment to gather strength, laboriously climbed them, passed under the mosquito-netting portiere, and, strolling leisurely toward the kitchen corner where Camp Mother was busily frying bacon and eggs on the blue-flame burner camp-fire.1909, The Unitarian Register - Volume 88, page 1168
    • Mrs. Reimann is a true "Camp Mother" to every boy in camp, caring for their intimate needs, helping them tide over lonesome times, sewing on buttons, and doing everything a mother is called on to do at home.1929, Camp Charlevoix: A Character Camp for Boys

Also used as

camp mother is also the alternative form of Camp Mother.

Examples of camp mother in a sentence

  • At the entrance, a middle-aged woman with heavy eyebrows, black hair pulled back in a ponytail, and a strong smell of mints, introduced herself as Miss Stoakley, their camp mother.2015, Gisela Sherman, Farmerettes, →ISBN:
  • Adelsberger herself was adopted by two young girls as their 'camp mother'.2003, Melissa Raphael, The Female Face of God in Auschwitz, →ISBN, page 96:
  • Claire was sent away to a subcamp, and another camp mother, called Rosanne Lascroux, looked after Stella for a time.2015, Sarah Helm, If This Is A Woman: Inside Ravensbruck, →ISBN:

Forms of camp mother

pluralcamp mothers
pluralCamp Mothers

Questions about camp mother

What does camp mother mean?
Camp mother means a woman in charge of housekeeping tasks in a camp.
How do you use camp mother in a sentence?
At the entrance, a middle-aged woman with heavy eyebrows, black hair pulled back in a ponytail, and a strong smell of mints, introduced herself as Miss Stoakley, their camp mother.
What part of speech is camp mother?
Camp mother is a noun.
What is the plural of camp mother?
The plural of camp mother is camp mothers.

Words near camp mother in the dictionary

  1. Camp Four
  2. Camp Hill
  3. camp it up
  4. Camp IV
  5. camp meat
  6. camp mother
  7. camp mothers
  8. Camp Nelson
  9. Camp One
  10. camp out
  11. camp out on

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: camp mother (page history and authors); Camp Mother (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “camp mother.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/camp_mother. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.