summer school
Americannoun
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study programs offered by a school, college, or university during the summer to those who wish to obtain their degrees more quickly, who must make up credits, or who wish to supplement their education.
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a school offering such programs.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of summer school
An Americanism dating back to 1870–75
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 state’s schools—once among the U.S.’s worst-performing—have made gains with intensive tutoring, mandatory summer school for struggling pupils and a back-to-basics approach that emphasizes phonics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
During summer school, Ruiz said, she was called into a classroom where kindergartners were repeating their parents’ worries — often, what parents heard on the news — but not understanding the gravity of the situation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2025
Carla Risoldi had been a summer school student at Gonville & Caius College for six weeks in 1985, but in her haste to make her flight back home, she forgot to return her key.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2025
Eric impressed Cronin by moving to Los Angeles in May, a month before the start of summer school, and showing up in the gym each morning for two-hour workouts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2025
I didn’t judge Skye when she failed math and had to do summer school.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
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.
