Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

boarding school

American  
[bawr-ding skool] / ˈbɔr dɪŋ ˌskul /

noun

  1. a school at which the students receive board and lodging during the school term (distinguished from day school).

boarding school British  

noun

  1. a school providing living accommodation for some or all of its pupils

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of boarding school

First recorded in 1670–80

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

She attended Choate Rosemary Hall, an exclusive boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, and went to Barnard College in New York.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

Mr. Ansari—the son of an Iranian ambassador and a distant cousin of Farah Pahlavi, the shah’s widow—was sent off to boarding school in the U.K. in June 1978, “which was fairly good timing.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

"It's like a state-sponsored boarding school where they systematically foster football players."

From Barron's • Feb. 26, 2026

He went to a Christian Science boarding school in St. Louis and to Principia College, a Christian Science college in Elsah, Ill., and never smoked or drank.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2026

As it turned out, he was a director of a boarding school.

From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.