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.

The Ndholo Kusumo boarding school reportedly had a permit since 2021, and was home to at least 252 students.

From BBC • May 13, 2026

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in November 1938, Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III went to a military boarding school in Tennessee, and then attended Brown University, but was expelled before graduating.

From Barron's • May 6, 2026

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

If anything, rather than taking my language away from me, boarding school made me more determined never to forget it.

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember "boarding school" for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com