Meaning & use

grade school

noun·Everyday

An elementary school for children, typically covering kindergarten through sixth or eighth grade.

See it in a sentence

She still keeps in touch with a few friends from grade school.

He learned long division back in grade school but had forgotten most of it since.

A note on using this word

Grade school is informal American usage; 'primary school' is the more common term in British English.

Words with a similar meaning

elementary schoolprimary school

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

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