schoolmaster

American  

[skool-mas-ter, -mah-ster] / ˈskulˌmæs tər, -ˌmɑ stər /

noun

1. a man who presides over or teaches in a school.

2. anything that teaches or directs.

   Life can be a harsh schoolmaster.

3. a snapper, Lutjanus apodus, a food fish found in Florida, the West Indies, etc.

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verb (used with or without object)

1. to teach or direct in the capacity of schoolmaster.

schoolmaster British  

/ ˈskuːlˌmɑːstə /

noun

1. a man who teaches in or runs a school

2. a person or thing that acts as an instructor

3. a food fish, Lutjanus apodus, of the warm waters of the Caribbean and Atlantic: family Lutjanidae (snappers)

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verb

1. to be a schoolmaster

Other Word Forms

• schoolmastering noun
• schoolmasterish adjective
• schoolmasterly adjective
• schoolmastership noun

Etymology

Origin of schoolmaster

First recorded in 1175–1225, schoolmaster is from the Middle English word scolemaister. See school ¹, master

Example Sentences

But unlike those later writers—elites who served as government functionaries—Felix is merely “the son of a poor schoolmaster.”

From The Wall Street Journal

“Didn’t you hear anything at the funeral? He was the old schoolmaster before Miss Myrt’s time. Ten foot tall in his clawhammer coat.”

From Literature

The Post likened him to Ichabod Crane, the fictional schoolmaster in the Washington Irving short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

From The Wall Street Journal

He’s presenting as one of those British schoolmaster guys, he’s playing up to that type.

From Los Angeles Times

He frisked him to make sure he was unarmed and, like a schoolmaster taking a disobedient student by the collar, marched him away from the barn.

From Literature