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Showing results for grade school. Search instead for grad+school.
Synonyms

grade school

American  
Also graded school

noun

  1. an elementary school that has its pupils grouped or classified into grades.

grade school British  

noun

  1. another name for elementary 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 grade school

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55

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 been speculated, notably by MSNOW’s Chris Hayes, that Trump was looking at the Mercator Projection map that we probably all remember from our grade school geography textbooks.

From Salon • Jan. 18, 2026

Salary was an afterthought for Buffett, whose own Berkshire stock portfolio had been accruing gains since Abel was in grade school.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026

Recall from grade school fraction math that you may cancel diagonally; the two “sales” disappear, as do the “assets.”

From Barron's • Dec. 26, 2025

For Schneider, there was the time a jazz combo played in an assembly at grade school.

From BBC • Jul. 11, 2025

There are pictures of her and Olga all over her walls and dresser: at the park, in a photo booth, grade school, prom, graduation, dinners.

From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez

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.