Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A brushy rural area.
  • verb To camp in a dry brushy location.
  • verb To stay in a recreational vehicle in a remote location, without connections to water, power, or sewer services.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Tagalog bundok ("mountain").

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Examples

Comments

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  • No, no, no. I am certain that "boondock" has its origins in the Pilipino word "bundok." Some etymology: the Philippines was conquered and then colonized by the United States at the turn of the 20th century. One can easily imagine American troops asking the natives where the rebels they were pursuing had fled. "There," they would say, "they fled to this bundok or that bundok." Bundok (pronounced only with short vowel sounds and with accent on the second syllable) is the Pilipino word for mountain. That's how it made its way into American English.

    July 20, 2012

  • No no no what? This page doesn't offer an etymology. Etymological theories are notoriously difficult to 'prove' in many cases. Your position on this word is plausible and not without support. Online Etymology Dictionary says:

    "1910s, from Tagalog bundok 'mountain.' Adopted by occupying American soldiers in the Philippines for 'remote and wild place.' Reinforced or re-adopted during World War II. Hence, also boondockers 'shoes suited for rough terrain,' originally (1944) U.S. services slang word for field boots."

    July 20, 2012