school

1
[ skool ]
See synonyms for: schoolschooledschooling on Thesaurus.com
noun

  1. an institution where instruction is given, especially to persons under college age: The children are at school.

  2. an institution for instruction in a particular skill or field.

  1. a college or university.

  2. a regular course of meetings of a teacher or teachers and students for instruction; program of instruction: summer school.

  3. a session of such a course: no school today; to be kept after school.

  4. the activity or process of learning under instruction, especially at a school for the young: As a child, I never liked school.

  5. one's formal education: They plan to be married when he finishes school.

  6. a building housing a school.

  7. the body of students, or students and teachers, belonging to an educational institution: The entire school rose when the principal entered the auditorium.

  8. a building, room, etc., in a university, set apart for the use of one of the faculties or for some particular purpose: the school of agriculture.

  9. a particular faculty or department of a university having the right to recommend candidates for degrees, and usually beginning its program of instruction after the student has completed general education: medical school.

  10. any place, situation, etc., tending to teach anything.

  11. the body of pupils or followers of a master, system, method, etc.: the Platonic school of philosophy.

  12. Art.

    • a group of artists, as painters, writers, or musicians, whose works reflect a common conceptual, regional, or personal influence: the modern school; the Florentine school.

    • the art and artists of a geographical location considered independently of stylistic similarity: the French school.

  13. any group of persons having common attitudes or beliefs.

  14. Military, Navy. parts of close-order drill applying to the individual (school of the soldier ), the squad (school of the squad ), or the like.

  15. Australian and New Zealand Informal. a group of people gathered together, especially for gambling or drinking.

  16. schools, Archaic. the faculties of a university.

  17. Obsolete. the schoolmen in a medieval university.

adjective

  1. of or connected with a school or schools.

  2. Obsolete. of the schoolmen.

verb (used with object)

  1. to educate in or as if in a school; teach; train.

  2. Archaic. to reprimand.

Idioms about school

  1. school of hard knocks. See entry at school of hard knocks.

  2. school of thought. See entry at school of thought.

Origin of school

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English noun scol(e), schole, Old English scōl, scolu, from Latin schola, from Greek scholḗ “leisure employed in learning”

Other words from school

  • school·a·ble, adjective
  • school·less, adjective
  • school·like, adjective

Words Nearby school

Other definitions for school (2 of 2)

school2
[ skool ]
noun

  1. a large number of fish, porpoises, whales, or the like, feeding or migrating together.

verb (used without object)

  1. to form into, or go in, a school, as fish.

Origin of school

2
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English schol(e), sculle, from Middle Dutch schōle “flock (of animals),” Dutch school “shoal (of fish)”; cognate with Old English scolu “troop”; see shoal2

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use school in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for school (1 of 2)

school1

/ (skuːl) /

noun

    • an institution or building at which children and young people usually under 19 receive education

    • (as modifier): school bus; school day

    • (in combination): schoolroom; schoolwork

  2. any educational institution or building

  1. a faculty, institution, or department specializing in a particular subject: a law school

  2. the staff and pupils of a school

  3. the period of instruction in a school or one session of this: he stayed after school to do extra work

  4. meetings held occasionally for members of a profession, etc

  5. a place or sphere of activity that instructs: the school of hard knocks

  6. a body of people or pupils adhering to a certain set of principles, doctrines, or methods

  7. a group of artists, writers, etc, linked by the same style, teachers, or aims: the Venetian school of painting

  8. a style of life: a gentleman of the old school

  9. informal a group assembled for a common purpose, esp gambling or drinking

verb(tr)

  1. to train or educate in or as in a school

  2. to discipline or control

  1. an archaic word for reprimand

Origin of school

1
Old English scōl, from Latin schola school, from Greek skholē leisure spent in the pursuit of knowledge

British Dictionary definitions for school (2 of 2)

school2

/ (skuːl) /

noun

  1. a group of porpoises or similar aquatic animals that swim together

verb

  1. (intr) to form such a group

Origin of school

2
Old English scolu shoal ²

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with school

school

In addition to the idiom beginning with school

  • school of hard knocks

also see:

  • tell tales (out of school)

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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