Camping
Etymology
From first-person-shooter video games, where a “camper” stakes out one spot — a corner, a doorway, a sniper’s nest — and picks off players who pass. The term was well established by the late 1990s and carries a built-in edge of accusation. It now stretches to other kinds of lying in wait, from “camping” a web page for a product drop to sitting on a good seat all day.
noun · /KAMP-ing/
Holding a fixed, hidden position to ambush opponents rather than moving and engaging.
What it names
It names a patient, low-risk tactic — and the tension around it. Camping is often effective yet resented as cheap or cowardly, because it wins by waiting others out rather than meeting them fairly. The word travels well to any strategy of lurking in place until a target comes to you.
Example
He wasn’t really playing so much as camping in the stairwell, waiting for someone to walk into his crosshairs.
Related idea
Distinct from lurking, which is passive watching; camping is holding a position specifically to strike from it.