preschool
Americanadjective
noun
-
preschools
plural
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of preschool
Explanation
A preschool is a school for kids too young for kindergarten. In preschool, your teacher will still help you tie your shoes and stick your straw into your juice box. You can use the word preschool for the actual building where three year olds attend school, or for the program there. It's also an adjective for talking about preschool teachers, preschool students, or preschool funding in your town. Preschool has been used since the late 1800s, and it's also commonly called pre-K or nursery school.
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.
See Examples For:
“When six alpha females get together there’s bound to be drama, but we never go to bed angry,” says Rachel Castaldi, a part-time preschool teacher in Princeton, N.J.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Federal funds are conditioned on preschool providers following 133 pages of rules, which prescribe everything from how often children brush their teeth to classroom disciplinary procedures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
For families that qualify, it offers free preschool and screenings to identify developmental delays.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
She collects material from other places, too, like dirt from her daughter’s preschool yard or sand from local beaches — anything elemental that “will really alchemize and change form in the kiln.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
My best friend, Rabia, who I’ve known since preschool, doesn’t understand why I left.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
A lack of suitable premises is putting pressure on voluntary preschools to stay open, a nursery struggling to find a new home has said.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026
The Supreme Court is expected to hear the Catholic preschools case during its term beginning in October and issue a ruling by June 2027.
From Barron's ● Apr. 20, 2026
Dawn Uribe, the owner of four Spanish-immersion preschools in Minnesota, said two of her staffers have been detained by ICE.
From Salon ● Jan. 29, 2026
The first nationwide randomized study of children enrolled in public Montessori preschools found that students showed stronger learning outcomes by the time they reached kindergarten.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 1, 2026
The preschools would fill up with strange ring-eyed children.
From "Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie" by Jordan Sonnenblick
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.
