coed school

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A school where boys and girls study together in the same classes.

   Grammar: Countable; often written as 'co-ed school' or 'coeducational school'.

   Patterns

   • a coed school
   • attend a coed school
   • send someone to a coed school

   After years at a boys' school, he transferred to a coed school and made friends with girls for the first time.

   Most public schools in the country are coed schools.

   Her parents chose a coed school because they wanted her to learn alongside boys.

2. 2adjectivebefore a noun

   Describing a school or institution that admits both male and female students.

   Grammar: Used before a noun, as in 'a coed school' or 'coed education'.

   Patterns

   • coed school
   • coed education
   • coed dormitory

   They debated whether a coed school environment was better for teenagers.

   The university opened its first coed dormitory in the 1970s.

   Coed schooling became the norm in many countries during the twentieth century.

Word forms

Common combinations

attend a coed school

She attended a coed school from kindergarten through high school.

coed education

The report compared single-sex and coed education.

go coed

The college decided to go coed in 1969.

a coed dormitory

The university introduced coed dormitories in the 1980s.

Synonyms and how they differ

mixed school

Mixed school is common in British English and means the same thing; 'coed school' is more common in American English.

coeducational school

Coeducational is the full, formal adjective; 'coed' is the informal short form.

Opposites

Word family

coeducation noun

The system of educating boys and girls together.

coeducational adjective

Describing a school or system that teaches both sexes together.

coed adjective

Informal short form of coeducational.

Commonly confused: coed school or coed?

Practice

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