Meaning & use
campfire
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Meaning
nouncountable
An outdoor fire, usually built with wood, around which people gather while camping.
Grammar: A campfire is a countable noun; you can say 'a campfire' or 'campfires'.
Patterns
- build a campfire
- sit around a campfire
- light a campfire
We built a campfire and roasted marshmallows.
The campfire kept us warm while we told stories.
They gathered around the campfire to sing songs.
Word forms
| plural | campfires |
|---|
Common combinations
- build a campfire
- It took us a while to build a campfire with damp wood.
- sit around a campfire
- We sat around the campfire and talked until midnight.
- light a campfire
- He used a match to light the campfire.
- campfire smoke
- The campfire smoke made my eyes water.
- campfire songs
- The children sang campfire songs at summer camp.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- camp noun
- A place where people stay in tents or cabins, often in the outdoors.
- camper noun
- A person who camps, or a vehicle used for camping.
Commonly confused: campfire or bonfire?
campfire vs bonfire
A bonfire is much larger and often built for a party or to burn rubbish, while a campfire is smaller and used for warmth or cooking while camping.
Practice
Choose the correct preposition: We sat ___ the campfire and told ghost stories.
Choose one answer.
'Around' is the natural preposition because people form a circle near the fire. 'On' would mean on top of the fire, which is not the intended meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “campfire”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.