elementary school
Americannoun
noun
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a former name for primary school
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Also called (in the US): grade school. grammar school. a state school in which instruction is given for the first six to eight years of a child's education
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of elementary school
First recorded in 1835–45
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.
Nearly 400 officers responded to Robb Elementary school but it took 77 minutes after the first officers arrived for police to confront and kill the shooter, according to a 2024 federal report.
From BBC • Jan. 21, 2026
Elementary school friends Olivia Wasilewski and Brynna Siewers got their game, Ship of Treasures, licensed and later sold in Target after winning an award at the fair in 2016.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025
“Counterpoint: Elementary school is not supposed to be like World War II.”
From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2023
Until this year she had worked for 19 years as a community and parent representative at Bradley Elementary school, making about $16 an hour.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2023
Elementary school kids are talking about how I nearly caused a car accident.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
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.
