Definition of “school” - English Dictionary

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“school” in English

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schoolnoun

uk ​ /skuːl/ us ​ /skuːl/

school noun (EDUCATION)

A1 [ C or U ] a place where children go to be educated:

UK a primary/secondary school
US an elementary/a middle/a high school
Milton Road School
They're building a new school in the town.
She drives the kids to school every morning.
I went to school with (= I went to the same school at the same time as) Luke's brother.
UK I was at school with Luke's brother.
Is Emily in/at school today or is she still ill?
What did you learn at school today
Which school do you go to (formal attend)?
school lunches/uniform/buildings

A1 [ U ] the period of your life during which you go to school, or the teaching and learning activities which happen at school:

Most children start/begin school at the age of five.
What do you want to do when you leave school (= finish studying at school)?
I love/hate school.
US My sister teaches school (= teaches children in a school) in New York City.

A2 [ U ] the time during the day when children are studying in school:

before/after school
School starts at 9 a.m. and finishes at 3.30 p.m.

› [ C + sing/pl verb ] all the children and teachers at a school:

The whole school is/are delighted about Joel's success in the championships.

› [ C or U ] a part of a college or university specializing in a particular subject or group of subjects:

the School of Oriental and African Studies
She went to medical school in Edinburgh.

A2 [ C ] a place where people can study a particular subject either some of the time or all of the time:

a driving/dancing school
the London Business School

B1 [ U ] US a college or university or the time that a student spends there:

We first met in graduate school (= while doing a second or third university degree).
We went to school together in Atlanta.

More examples

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Idiom(s)

school of hard knocks

schoolverb [ T ]

uk ​ /skuːl/ us ​ /skuːl/ formal

(Definition of “school” from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

“school” in American English

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schoolnoun

us ​ /skul/

school noun (EDUCATION)

› [ C/U ] a place where people, esp. young people, are educated:

[ C ] a nursery/grade/elementary/secondary/graduate school
[ C ] What school do you go to?
[ U ] The kids walk to school.
[ C ] The whole school knew about the incident (= all the students and teachers at the school knew about it).

› [ C/U ] School also means the time spent in school:

[ U ] School is out early today.

› [ C/U ] School also means the process of being educated in a school:

[ U ] Krista starts school in the fall.
[ U ] I’ve got one more year of school left.

› [ C/U ] A school is also a part of a college or university specializing in a particular subject or group of subjects:

[ C ] Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

› [ C/U ] A school is also a place where a particular subject or skill is taught:

[ C ] a driving/dancing/art school

› [ C/U ] School is also a college or university:

[ U ] We went to school together in Atlanta.

school noun (GROUP)

› [ C ] a group of artists, writers, or philosophers (= people with theories about existence) whose styles, methods, or ideas are similar:

Her painting belongs to the Impressionist school.

school noun (SEA ANIMALS)

› [ C ] a large number of fish or other sea animals swimming in a group

schoolverb [ T ]

us ​ /skul/

school verb [ T ] (EDUCATE)

› to train or teach:

She was schooled locally and then went away to college.

(Definition of “school” from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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