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comprehensive school

American  
comprehensive school British  

noun

  1. a secondary school for children of all abilities from the same district

  2. another name for composite school

"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 comprehensive school

First recorded in 1945–50

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:

After attending a central London comprehensive school, he read history at Cambridge, becoming the first in his family to go to university.

From BBC May 13, 2026

Ysgol Dyffryn Aman - which translates as Amman Valley School in English - is a bilingual comprehensive school in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire.

From BBC Apr. 25, 2024

One school was a mixed grammar school in a predominantly white, middle-class rural area and another was a mixed comprehensive school in a predominantly white, working-class urban area.

From Science Daily Apr. 16, 2024

Carvalho has yet to present his comprehensive school safety plan.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 8, 2023

Coming generations, so long as time lasts, will owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Ryerson, as the only real founder of a comprehensive school system in Ontario.

From The Story of My Life Being Reminiscences of Sixty Years' Public Service in Canada by Hodgins, J. George (John George)

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