school
♦♦♦ school /sk'uːl/ (schools schooling schooled)
1 [N-VAR] usu prep N
A school is a place where children are educated. You usually refer to this place as school when you are talking about the time that children spend there and the activities that they do there.
...a boy who was in my class at school...
Even the good students say homework is what they most dislike about school...
I took the kids for a picnic in the park after school.
...a school built in the Sixties...
...two boys wearing school uniform.
2 [N-COUNT-COLL]
A school is the pupils or staff at a school.
Deirdre, the whole school's going to hate you.
3 [N-COUNT; N-IN-NAMES]
A privately-run place where a particular skill or subject is taught can be referred to as a school.
...a riding school and equestrian centre near Chepstow.
4 [N-VAR; N-IN-NAMES]
A university, college, or university department specializing in a particular type of subject can be referred to as a school.
...a lecturer in the school of veterinary medicine at the University of Pennsylvania...
Stella, 21, is at art school training to be a fashion designer.
5 [N-UNCOUNT]
School is used to refer to university or college. (AM)
Moving rapidly through school, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Kentucky at age 18.
6 [N-COUNT-COLL] usu with supp
A particular school of writers, artists, or thinkers is a group of them whose work, opinions, or theories are similar.
...the Chicago school of economists...
7 [N-COUNT-COLL] N of n
A school of fish or dolphins is a large group of them moving through water together.
8 [VERB] V n in n, be V-ed to-inf
If you school someone in something, you train or educate them to have a certain skill, type of behaviour, or way of thinking. (WRITTEN)
Many mothers schooled their daughters in the myth of female inferiority...
He is schooled to spot trouble.
9 [VERB] V n
To school a child means to educate him or her. (AM; also BRIT FORMAL)
She's been schooling her kids herself.
10 [VERB] V n
If you school a horse, you train it so that it can be ridden in races or competitions.
She bought him as a £1,000 colt of six months and schooled him.
= train
11
see also schooled, schooling, approved school, approved school, boarding school,
church school, convent school, finishing school, finishing school, grade school,
graduate school, grammar school, infant school, infant school, junior school,
middle school, night school, pre-school, pre-school, prep school,
primary school, private school, special school, special school, state school,
summer school, Sunday schoolafter-school
[ADJ] ADJ n
After-school activities are those that are organized for children in the afternoon or evening after they have finished school.
...an after-school childcare scheme.ap|proved school (approved schools)
[N-COUNT]
In Britain in the past, an approved school was a boarding school where young people could be sent to stay if they had been found guilty of a crime.board|ing school (boarding schools)
also boarding-school
[N-VAR]
A boarding school is a school which some or all of the pupils live in during the school term. Compare day school.busi|ness school (business schools)
[N-COUNT]
A business school is a school or college which teaches business subjects such as economics and management.church school (church schools)
[N-COUNT]
A church school is a school which has a special relationship with a particular branch of the Christian church, and where there is strong emphasis on worship and the teaching of religion.con|vent school (convent schools)
[N-COUNT]
A convent school is a school where many of the teachers are nuns.day school (day schools)
[N-COUNT]
A day school is a school where the students go home every evening and do not live at the school. Compare boarding school.driv|ing school (driving schools)
[N-COUNT]
A driving school is a business that employs instructors who teach people how to drive a car.el|emen|ta|ry school (elementary schools)
[N-VAR]
An elementary school is a school where children are taught for the first six or sometimes eight years of their education. (mainly AM)
...the move from elementary school to middle school or junior high.fin|ish|ing school (finishing schools)
[N-VAR]
A finishing school is a private school where rich or upper-class young women are taught manners and other social skills that are considered to be suitable for them.
...a Swiss finishing school.
...where the Princess of Wales attended finishing school.first school (first schools)
[N-COUNT]
A first school is a school for children aged between five and eight or nine. (BRIT)grade school (grade schools)
[N-VAR] oft in N
In the United States, a grade school is the same as an elementary school.
I was just in grade school at the time, but I remember it perfectly.gradu|ate school (graduate schools)
[N-VAR]
In the United States, a graduate school is a department in a university or college where postgraduate students are taught.
She was in graduate school, studying for a master's degree in social work.gram|mar school (grammar schools)
[N-VAR; N-IN-NAMES]
A grammar school is a school in Britain for children aged between eleven and eighteen who have a high academic ability.
He is in the third year at Leeds Grammar School.high school (high schools)
1 [N-VAR; N-IN-NAMES]
In Britain, a high school is a school for children aged between eleven and eighteen.
...Sunderland High School.
2 [N-VAR; N-IN-NAMES]
In the United States, a high school is a school for children usually aged between fourteen and eighteen.
...an 18-year-old inner-city kid who dropped out of high school.in|fant school (infant schools)
[N-VAR]
In Britain, an infant school is a school for children between the ages of five and seven.jun|ior school (junior schools)
[N-VAR; N-IN-NAMES] oft in names after n
In England and Wales, a junior school is a school for children between the ages of about seven and eleven.
...Middleton Road Junior School.lan|guage school (language schools)
[N-COUNT]
A language school is a private school where a foreign language is taught.mag|net school (magnet schools)
[N-COUNT]
A magnet school is a state-funded school, usually in a poor area, which is given extra resources in order to attract new pupils from other areas and help improve the school's performance. (JOURNALISM)mid|dle school (middle schools)
1 [N-VAR] oft in names after n
In the United States, a middle school is a school for children in the fifth to eighth grades, between the ages of 10 and 13 or 14.
...Harlem Park Middle School...
2 [N-VAR] oft in names after n
In Britain, a middle school is a state school that children go to between the ages of 8 or 9 and 12 or 13.night school (night schools)
[N-VAR]
Someone who goes to night school does an educational course in the evenings.
People can go out to work in the daylight hours and then come to night school in the evening.
= evening classesnurse|ry school (nursery schools)
[N-VAR]
A nursery school or a nursery is a school for very young children.
The availability of nursery school places varies widely across London.
= kindergartenprep school (prep schools)
1 [N-VAR] oft prep N
In Britain, a prep school is a private school where children are educated until the age of 11 or 13.
2 [N-VAR]
In the United States, a prep school is a private school for students who intend to go to college after they leave.pre|para|tory school (preparatory schools)
[N-VAR]
A preparatory school is the same as a prep school. (BRIT)pri|ma|ry school (primary schools)
[N-VAR] oft in names
A primary school is a school for children between the ages of 5 and 11. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use elementary school)
...eight-to nine-year-olds in their third year at primary school...
Greenside Primary School.pri|vate school (private schools)
[N-VAR]
A private school is a school which is not supported financially by the government and which parents have to pay for their children to go to.
He attended Eton, the most exclusive private school in Britain.
≠ state schoolpub|lic school (public schools)
1 [N-VAR]
In Britain, a public school is a private school that provides secondary education which parents have to pay for. The pupils often live at the school during the school term.
He was headmaster of a public school in the West of England.
2 [N-VAR]
In the United States, Australia, and many other countries, a public school is a school that is supported financially by the government and usually provides free education.
...Milwaukee's public school system.school age
[N-UNCOUNT] oft prep N
When a child reaches school age, he or she is old enough to go to school.
Most of them have young children below school age.
[ADJ] usu ADJ n
School age is also an adjective.
...families with school-age children.school board (school boards)
[N-COUNT-COLL]
A school board is a committee in charge of education in a particular city or area, or in a particular school, especially in the United States. (AM)
Colonel Richard Nelson served on the school board until this year.school book (school books)
also schoolbook
[N-COUNT] usu pl
School books are books giving information about a particular subject, which children use at school.school bus (school buses)
[N-COUNT]
A school bus is a special bus which takes children to and from school.school din|ner (school dinners)
[N-VAR]
School dinners are midday meals provided for children at a school. (BRIT; in AM, use school lunch)
Overcooked greens are my most vivid recollection of school dinners.school friend (school friends)
also schoolfriend
[N-COUNT] oft with poss
A school friend is a friend of yours who is at the same school as you, or who used to be at the same school when you were children.
I spent the evening with an old school friend.school kid (school kids)
also schoolkid
[N-COUNT] usu pl
School kids are schoolchildren. (INFORMAL)
...young school kids in short pants.school leav|er (school leavers)
[N-COUNT] usu pl
School leavers are young people who have just left school, because they have completed their time there. (BRIT; in AM, use high school graduate)
...the lack of job opportunities, particularly for school-leavers.school lunch (school lunches)
[N-VAR]
School lunches are midday meals provided for children at a school.
= school dinnerschool run (school runs)
[N-COUNT]
The school run is the journey that parents make each day when they take their children to school and bring them home from school. (BRIT)
I do the school run for all the children and it will be very difficult if I have to take the girls to different schools.school teach|ing
[N-UNCOUNT]
School teaching is the work done by teachers in a school. (FORMAL)
He returned to school teaching.
= teachingsec|ond|ary school (secondary schools)
[N-VAR]
A secondary school is a school for pupils between the ages of 11 or 12 and 17 or 18.
She taught history at a secondary school...spe|cial school (special schools)
[N-COUNT]
A special school is a school for children who have some kind of serious physical or mental problem. (BRIT)state school (state schools)
[N-COUNT]
A state school is a school that is controlled and funded by the government or a local authority, and which children can attend without having to pay. (BRIT; in AM, use public school)sum|mer school (summer schools)
1 [N-VAR]
A summer school is an educational course on a particular subject that is run during the summer. The students usually stay at the place where the summer school is being held. (mainly BRIT)
...a summer school for young professional singers.
2 [N-VAR]
Summer school is a summer term at a school, college, or university, for example for students who need extra teaching or who want to take extra courses. (mainly AM)Sun|day school (Sunday schools)
[N-VAR]
Sunday school is a class organized by a church that some children go to on Sundays in order to learn about Christianity.
...a Sunday School teacher.
1 [N-VAR] usu prep N
A school is a place where children are educated. You usually refer to this place as school when you are talking about the time that children spend there and the activities that they do there.
...a boy who was in my class at school...
Even the good students say homework is what they most dislike about school...
I took the kids for a picnic in the park after school.
...a school built in the Sixties...
...two boys wearing school uniform.
2 [N-COUNT-COLL]
A school is the pupils or staff at a school.
Deirdre, the whole school's going to hate you.
3 [N-COUNT; N-IN-NAMES]
A privately-run place where a particular skill or subject is taught can be referred to as a school.
...a riding school and equestrian centre near Chepstow.
4 [N-VAR; N-IN-NAMES]
A university, college, or university department specializing in a particular type of subject can be referred to as a school.
...a lecturer in the school of veterinary medicine at the University of Pennsylvania...
Stella, 21, is at art school training to be a fashion designer.
5 [N-UNCOUNT]
School is used to refer to university or college. (AM)
Moving rapidly through school, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Kentucky at age 18.
6 [N-COUNT-COLL] usu with supp
A particular school of writers, artists, or thinkers is a group of them whose work, opinions, or theories are similar.
...the Chicago school of economists...
7 [N-COUNT-COLL] N of n
A school of fish or dolphins is a large group of them moving through water together.
8 [VERB] V n in n, be V-ed to-inf
If you school someone in something, you train or educate them to have a certain skill, type of behaviour, or way of thinking. (WRITTEN)
Many mothers schooled their daughters in the myth of female inferiority...
He is schooled to spot trouble.
9 [VERB] V n
To school a child means to educate him or her. (AM; also BRIT FORMAL)
She's been schooling her kids herself.
10 [VERB] V n
If you school a horse, you train it so that it can be ridden in races or competitions.
She bought him as a £1,000 colt of six months and schooled him.
= train
11
see also schooled, schooling, approved school, approved school, boarding school,
church school, convent school, finishing school, finishing school, grade school,
graduate school, grammar school, infant school, infant school, junior school,
middle school, night school, pre-school, pre-school, prep school,
primary school, private school, special school, special school, state school,
summer school, Sunday schoolafter-school
[ADJ] ADJ n
After-school activities are those that are organized for children in the afternoon or evening after they have finished school.
...an after-school childcare scheme.ap|proved school (approved schools)
[N-COUNT]
In Britain in the past, an approved school was a boarding school where young people could be sent to stay if they had been found guilty of a crime.board|ing school (boarding schools)
also boarding-school
[N-VAR]
A boarding school is a school which some or all of the pupils live in during the school term. Compare day school.busi|ness school (business schools)
[N-COUNT]
A business school is a school or college which teaches business subjects such as economics and management.church school (church schools)
[N-COUNT]
A church school is a school which has a special relationship with a particular branch of the Christian church, and where there is strong emphasis on worship and the teaching of religion.con|vent school (convent schools)
[N-COUNT]
A convent school is a school where many of the teachers are nuns.day school (day schools)
[N-COUNT]
A day school is a school where the students go home every evening and do not live at the school. Compare boarding school.driv|ing school (driving schools)
[N-COUNT]
A driving school is a business that employs instructors who teach people how to drive a car.el|emen|ta|ry school (elementary schools)
[N-VAR]
An elementary school is a school where children are taught for the first six or sometimes eight years of their education. (mainly AM)
...the move from elementary school to middle school or junior high.fin|ish|ing school (finishing schools)
[N-VAR]
A finishing school is a private school where rich or upper-class young women are taught manners and other social skills that are considered to be suitable for them.
...a Swiss finishing school.
...where the Princess of Wales attended finishing school.first school (first schools)
[N-COUNT]
A first school is a school for children aged between five and eight or nine. (BRIT)grade school (grade schools)
[N-VAR] oft in N
In the United States, a grade school is the same as an elementary school.
I was just in grade school at the time, but I remember it perfectly.gradu|ate school (graduate schools)
[N-VAR]
In the United States, a graduate school is a department in a university or college where postgraduate students are taught.
She was in graduate school, studying for a master's degree in social work.gram|mar school (grammar schools)
[N-VAR; N-IN-NAMES]
A grammar school is a school in Britain for children aged between eleven and eighteen who have a high academic ability.
He is in the third year at Leeds Grammar School.high school (high schools)
1 [N-VAR; N-IN-NAMES]
In Britain, a high school is a school for children aged between eleven and eighteen.
...Sunderland High School.
2 [N-VAR; N-IN-NAMES]
In the United States, a high school is a school for children usually aged between fourteen and eighteen.
...an 18-year-old inner-city kid who dropped out of high school.in|fant school (infant schools)
[N-VAR]
In Britain, an infant school is a school for children between the ages of five and seven.jun|ior school (junior schools)
[N-VAR; N-IN-NAMES] oft in names after n
In England and Wales, a junior school is a school for children between the ages of about seven and eleven.
...Middleton Road Junior School.lan|guage school (language schools)
[N-COUNT]
A language school is a private school where a foreign language is taught.mag|net school (magnet schools)
[N-COUNT]
A magnet school is a state-funded school, usually in a poor area, which is given extra resources in order to attract new pupils from other areas and help improve the school's performance. (JOURNALISM)mid|dle school (middle schools)
1 [N-VAR] oft in names after n
In the United States, a middle school is a school for children in the fifth to eighth grades, between the ages of 10 and 13 or 14.
...Harlem Park Middle School...
2 [N-VAR] oft in names after n
In Britain, a middle school is a state school that children go to between the ages of 8 or 9 and 12 or 13.night school (night schools)
[N-VAR]
Someone who goes to night school does an educational course in the evenings.
People can go out to work in the daylight hours and then come to night school in the evening.
= evening classesnurse|ry school (nursery schools)
[N-VAR]
A nursery school or a nursery is a school for very young children.
The availability of nursery school places varies widely across London.
= kindergartenprep school (prep schools)
1 [N-VAR] oft prep N
In Britain, a prep school is a private school where children are educated until the age of 11 or 13.
2 [N-VAR]
In the United States, a prep school is a private school for students who intend to go to college after they leave.pre|para|tory school (preparatory schools)
[N-VAR]
A preparatory school is the same as a prep school. (BRIT)pri|ma|ry school (primary schools)
[N-VAR] oft in names
A primary school is a school for children between the ages of 5 and 11. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use elementary school)
...eight-to nine-year-olds in their third year at primary school...
Greenside Primary School.pri|vate school (private schools)
[N-VAR]
A private school is a school which is not supported financially by the government and which parents have to pay for their children to go to.
He attended Eton, the most exclusive private school in Britain.
≠ state schoolpub|lic school (public schools)
1 [N-VAR]
In Britain, a public school is a private school that provides secondary education which parents have to pay for. The pupils often live at the school during the school term.
He was headmaster of a public school in the West of England.
2 [N-VAR]
In the United States, Australia, and many other countries, a public school is a school that is supported financially by the government and usually provides free education.
...Milwaukee's public school system.school age
[N-UNCOUNT] oft prep N
When a child reaches school age, he or she is old enough to go to school.
Most of them have young children below school age.
[ADJ] usu ADJ n
School age is also an adjective.
...families with school-age children.school board (school boards)
[N-COUNT-COLL]
A school board is a committee in charge of education in a particular city or area, or in a particular school, especially in the United States. (AM)
Colonel Richard Nelson served on the school board until this year.school book (school books)
also schoolbook
[N-COUNT] usu pl
School books are books giving information about a particular subject, which children use at school.school bus (school buses)
[N-COUNT]
A school bus is a special bus which takes children to and from school.school din|ner (school dinners)
[N-VAR]
School dinners are midday meals provided for children at a school. (BRIT; in AM, use school lunch)
Overcooked greens are my most vivid recollection of school dinners.school friend (school friends)
also schoolfriend
[N-COUNT] oft with poss
A school friend is a friend of yours who is at the same school as you, or who used to be at the same school when you were children.
I spent the evening with an old school friend.school kid (school kids)
also schoolkid
[N-COUNT] usu pl
School kids are schoolchildren. (INFORMAL)
...young school kids in short pants.school leav|er (school leavers)
[N-COUNT] usu pl
School leavers are young people who have just left school, because they have completed their time there. (BRIT; in AM, use high school graduate)
...the lack of job opportunities, particularly for school-leavers.school lunch (school lunches)
[N-VAR]
School lunches are midday meals provided for children at a school.
= school dinnerschool run (school runs)
[N-COUNT]
The school run is the journey that parents make each day when they take their children to school and bring them home from school. (BRIT)
I do the school run for all the children and it will be very difficult if I have to take the girls to different schools.school teach|ing
[N-UNCOUNT]
School teaching is the work done by teachers in a school. (FORMAL)
He returned to school teaching.
= teachingsec|ond|ary school (secondary schools)
[N-VAR]
A secondary school is a school for pupils between the ages of 11 or 12 and 17 or 18.
She taught history at a secondary school...spe|cial school (special schools)
[N-COUNT]
A special school is a school for children who have some kind of serious physical or mental problem. (BRIT)state school (state schools)
[N-COUNT]
A state school is a school that is controlled and funded by the government or a local authority, and which children can attend without having to pay. (BRIT; in AM, use public school)sum|mer school (summer schools)
1 [N-VAR]
A summer school is an educational course on a particular subject that is run during the summer. The students usually stay at the place where the summer school is being held. (mainly BRIT)
...a summer school for young professional singers.
2 [N-VAR]
Summer school is a summer term at a school, college, or university, for example for students who need extra teaching or who want to take extra courses. (mainly AM)Sun|day school (Sunday schools)
[N-VAR]
Sunday school is a class organized by a church that some children go to on Sundays in order to learn about Christianity.
...a Sunday School teacher.