charity school

American  

noun

U.S. History.

1. an elementary school, usually funded by charitable persons or organizations, for those unable to pay: a forerunner of the public-school system.

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Etymology

Origin of charity school

First recorded in 1675–85

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

charity school

Jane and Maria’s education consisted of a few years at a charity school, but both were avid readers and precocious writers.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 25, 2022

Now in his mid-thirties, he runs a charity school.

From Reuters ● Aug. 8, 2018

The University of Pennsylvania, as its website states, was established by evangelist George Whitefield as a “Philadelphia charity school that would double as a house of worship for his followers.”

From Washington Times ● Feb. 24, 2018

She was also able to preserve catch-up contributions to retirement accounts for church, charity, school, and public employees.

From Slate ● Dec. 20, 2017

In his youth he had been sent by Johnson to Doctor Wheelock's charity school at Lebanon, Connecticut, where he learned to speak and write English and acquired some knowledge of history and literature.

From The Land of the Miamis An Account of the Struggle to Secure Possession of the North-West from the End of the Revolution until 1812 by Barce, Elmore