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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 (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.

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

From Barron's • Feb. 26, 2026

In Middletown: The fictional Welton Academy in Vermont, setting of “Dead Poets Society,” is actually St. Andrew’s School, a private boarding school.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 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

He was at boarding school when he stepped on a cobra in the playground.

From BBC • Feb. 7, 2026

When Welles was eleven, his father enrolled him in a private boarding school for boys near Chicago.

From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow

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.