grammar school
Americannoun
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an elementary school.
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British. a secondary school corresponding to a U.S. high school.
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(formerly) a secondary school in which Latin and Greek are among the principal subjects taught.
noun
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(esp formerly) a state-maintained secondary school providing an education with an academic bias for children who are selected by the eleven-plus examination, teachers' reports, or other means Compare secondary modern school comprehensive school
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another term for elementary school
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a private school, esp one controlled by a church
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a secondary school forming part of the public education system
Etymology
Origin of grammar school
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400
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.
Dame Jenni had a grammar school education in her home town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, before going on to study French and drama at the University of Hull.
From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026
“There were books when my daughters were in grammar school and high school that stated we were extinct,” said Art Morales, an elder and historian in the tribe.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 19, 2025
She was educated at a local grammar school before going to St Mary's College, Durham University in 1952.
From BBC • Aug. 11, 2025
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
Insatiably curious about the world, the child peppered her grammar school teachers with questions and skipped ahead from second grade to fifth.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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.
