reform school
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of reform school
An Americanism dating back to 1855–60
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.
The actor stars alongside Tracey Ullman and Emily Watson in a film that follows the weary employees and difficult students of an English reform school.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2025
Among them is Steve, the headteacher of a reform school in 1996, battling the emotions and behaviour of the teenage boys living there as well as his own personal demons.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2025
Keep in mind I had worked in a reform school for girls!
From Slate ● Apr. 4, 2024
Tick’s research provides new details on Fitzgerald’s early life growing up in Yonkers, including the shattering death of her mother and a year spent in reform school.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2023
For any one of these offenses, a child might be kept after school for a week; for all three, he might be sent to reform school until his beard grew down to his knees.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
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.
