Meaning & use
campaign
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Meanings
nouncountable
A planned set of activities carried out over a period of time to reach a particular goal, such as winning an election or selling a product.
Grammar: Often takes for, against or to plus a verb: a campaign against littering.
Patterns
- a campaign for something
- a campaign against something
- a campaign to do something
The charity launched a campaign to protect the river.
Her election campaign lasted six months.
The new advertising campaign features local farmers.
nouncountablemilitary
A series of military operations carried out in one area or aimed at a single goal.
Grammar: Usually named for the place or period: the desert campaign.
Patterns
- the campaign in somewhere
The army's winter campaign ended in retreat.
Historians study the northern campaign in great detail.
The general planned a long campaign across the mountains.
verbintransitive
To take part in organized activity in order to bring about political or social change, or to win an election.
Grammar: Followed by for or against: they campaigned for cleaner air.
Patterns
- campaign for something
- campaign against something
- campaign to do something
Local residents campaigned against the new road.
She campaigned for the senate seat all summer.
They are campaigning to save the library.
Word forms
| plural | campaigns |
|---|---|
| third person singular | campaigns |
| past tense | campaigned |
| -ing form | campaigning |
Common combinations
- launch a campaign
- The company will launch a campaign next week.
- election campaign
- The election campaign begins in the autumn.
- advertising campaign
- The advertising campaign boosted sales.
- campaign for change
- Students campaign for change every year.
- run a campaign
- Volunteers run the campaign from a small office.
- smear campaign
- The candidate accused rivals of a smear campaign.
Synonyms and how they differ
- drive
- Drive is shorter and suggests a burst of energy over a limited time, such as a food drive.
- crusade
- Crusade suggests a passionate fight for a moral cause, with more emotion than campaign.
- movement
- Movement refers to a large group of people sharing a goal over a long period, not a planned set of actions.
- push
- Push is informal and focuses on effort to achieve something quickly.
Word family
- campaigner noun
- a person who takes part in a campaign
- campaigning noun
- the act of running a campaign
- counter-campaign noun
- a campaign made in response to another
- campaign trail noun
- the travels of a politician seeking votes
Commonly confused: campaign or champagne?
campaign vs champagne
Champagne is a sparkling wine, but campaign is a planned effort. The spellings look similar but the meanings are unrelated.
Practice
Volunteers have been ___ against plastic bags for two years.
Choose one answer.
After have been, an -ing form is needed. Campaigning fits, while campaigned and campaigns are the wrong forms after been.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “campaign”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.