Meaning & use
school room
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Meanings
nouncountableold-fashioned
A room in a school, or in a house, where children are taught.
Grammar: Often used for a single traditional teaching room.
Patterns
- in the school room
The old school room still has its wooden desks.
Pupils filed into the school room at nine.
The museum rebuilt a Victorian school room.
nouncountable
A space where a class is taught, a classroom.
Grammar: Classroom is the more usual modern word.
Patterns
- a school room for something
Each school room had a map on the wall.
The village hall served as a school room.
She cleaned the school room after lessons.
Word forms
| plural | school rooms |
|---|
Common combinations
- an old school room
- The old school room smelled of chalk.
- a Victorian school room
- We toured a Victorian school room.
- a one-room school room
- A one-room school room served the whole village.
- the school room clock
- The school room clock ticked loudly.
Synonyms and how they differ
- classroom
- Classroom is the normal modern word and fits any teaching room, while school room sounds old-fashioned.
- schoolhouse
- Schoolhouse means the whole building, not just a room.
- lecture hall
- A lecture hall is a large room for university talks, not for small lessons.
Word family
- schoolroom noun
- the one-word spelling
- schoolhouse noun
- a small school building
- schooling noun
- education
- schoolchild noun
- a child at school
Commonly confused: school room or classroom?
school room vs classroom
Classroom is more natural today. School room feels historical or literary.
Practice
Which word is the usual modern term for a room where a class is taught?
Choose one answer.
Classroom is the standard word. A schoolhouse is a whole building and a playground is outdoors.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “school room”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.