middle school

American  

noun

1. a school intermediate between elementary school and high school, usually encompassing grades five or six through eight.

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middle school British  

noun

1. (in England and Wales) a school for children aged between 8 or 9 and 12 or 13 Compare first school

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Etymology

Origin of middle school

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

“This is the last semester of middle school. I’ll ride this out and make a new friend in high school.”

From Literature

Mr. Steele opens his book with a hypothetical: a parent-teacher conference in an American middle school in which the student and his parents are black and the teacher is white.

From The Wall Street Journal

“What we’re seeing in middle school is really just sad because they really don’t want anyone to know that their dad is in hiding,” Jung said.

From Salon

The two 30-second ads highlight the Democrat’s life story — being raised in a working-class family and working on a grounds crew and as a middle school teacher — and his accomplishments leading the state’s third-largest city.

From Los Angeles Times

He paid about $20,000 for his son, a straight-A student, to repeat a grade at a private middle school sports academy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• junior high
• secondary school