school

¹

[ skool ]

noun

1. an institution where instruction is given, especially to persons under college age:

   The children are at school.

2. an institution for instruction in a particular skill or field.
3. a college or university.
4. a regular course of meetings of a teacher or teachers and students for instruction; program of instruction:

   summer school.

5. a session of such a course:

   no school today; to be kept after school.

6. the activity or process of learning under instruction, especially at a school for the young:

   As a child, I never liked school.

7. one's formal education:

   They plan to be married when he finishes school.

8. a building housing a school.
9. the body of students, or students and teachers, belonging to an educational institution:

   The entire school rose when the principal entered the auditorium.

10. a building, room, etc., in a university, set apart for the use of one of the faculties or for some particular purpose:

    the school of agriculture.

11. a particular faculty or department of a university having the right to recommend candidates for degrees, and usually beginning its program of instruction after the student has completed general education:

    medical school.

12. any place, situation, etc., tending to teach anything.
13. the body of pupils or followers of a master, system, method, etc.:

    the Platonic school of philosophy.

14. Art.
    1. a group of artists, as painters, writers, or musicians, whose works reflect a common conceptual, regional, or personal influence:

       the modern school; the Florentine school.

    2. the art and artists of a geographical location considered independently of stylistic similarity:

       the French school.

15. any group of persons having common attitudes or beliefs.
16. Military, Navy. parts of close-order drill applying to the individual school of the soldier, the squad school of the squad, or the like.
17. Australian and New Zealand Informal. a group of people gathered together, especially for gambling or drinking.
18. schools, Archaic. the faculties of a university.
19. Obsolete. the schoolmen in a medieval university.

adjective

1. of or connected with a school or schools.
2. Obsolete. of the schoolmen.

verb (used with object)

1. to educate in or as if in a school; teach; train.
2. Archaic. to reprimand.

school

²

[ skool ]

noun

1. a large number of fish, porpoises, whales, or the like, feeding or migrating together.

verb (used without object)

1. to form into, or go in, a school, as fish.

school

¹

/ skuːl /

noun

1. a group of porpoises or similar aquatic animals that swim together

verb

1. intr to form such a group

school

²

/ skuːl /

noun

1. 1. an institution or building at which children and young people usually under 19 receive education
   2. ( as modifier )

      school bus

      school day

   3. ( in combination )

      schoolwork

      schoolroom

2. any educational institution or building
3. a faculty, institution, or department specializing in a particular subject

   a law school

4. the staff and pupils of a school
5. the period of instruction in a school or one session of this

   he stayed after school to do extra work

6. meetings held occasionally for members of a profession, etc
7. a place or sphere of activity that instructs

   the school of hard knocks

8. a body of people or pupils adhering to a certain set of principles, doctrines, or methods
9. a group of artists, writers, etc, linked by the same style, teachers, or aims

   the Venetian school of painting

10. a style of life

    a gentleman of the old school

11. informal.
    a group assembled for a common purpose, esp gambling or drinking

verb

1. to train or educate in or as in a school
2. to discipline or control
3. an archaic word for reprimand

Other Words From

• school·a·ble adjective
• school·less adjective
• school·like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of school¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun scol(e), schole, Old English scōl, scolu, from Latin schola, from Greek scholḗ “leisure employed in learning”

Origin of school²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English schol(e), sculle, from Middle Dutch schōle “flock (of animals),” Dutch school “shoal (of fish)”; cognate with Old English scolu “troop”; shoal ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of school¹

Old English scolu shoal ²

Origin of school²

Old English scōl, from Latin schola school, from Greek skholē leisure spent in the pursuit of knowledge

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. school of hard knocks. school of hard knocks ( def ).
2. school of thought. school of thought ( def ).

More idioms and phrases containing school

In addition to the idiom beginning with school , also see tell tales (out of school) .

Example Sentences

Trump and other Republicans saw that the education vision President Obama had pushed — consisting of a vague Common Core public school curriculum followed by “college for all” — had alienated working-class Americans.

From Los Angeles Times

Both schools are grounded in moral principle, both reach for higher callings.

From Los Angeles Times

The regional sports network was looking to build subscribers by showing high school football.

From Los Angeles Times

He would have given the hundreds of high school recruits at the game another reason to give a commitment.

From Los Angeles Times

"We need every penny available spent on our schools, on our GP surgeries, on the mental health crisis."

From BBC

Related Words

• academy
• department
• faculty
• hall
• institute
• institution
• seminary
• university