high school
∞
1.0
- noun
- /haɪ skuːl/
- US
:
escuela secundaria
- She graduated from high school last year and is excited to start college.
- high school students
- middle and high school
- elementary and high school
So if you just use high school grades, it's OK.
- So if you just use high school grades, it's OK.
- Then my freshman year of high school, COVID happened.
- I've known her since high school and she's amazing.
- Like going straight to the NBA out of high school, though?
- She wrestled all through high school at that point.
- And she's saying high school wasn't your finest hour, was it?
- And then my first, my first year of high school was a bit rough.
Examples
-
Students who drop out of high school may have a grim economic future.
Academic text (2011) -
I mean, we were best friends all through high school.
-
Maybe not here, but maybe in high school or middle school.
-
It's like we're back in high school all over again.
-
Dad died when I was in high school.
-
So what high school are you coming from?
-
I was in high school when the aliens came.
-
For example, Catherine was unable to attend university after high school due to difficult family circumstances.
Academic text (2011) -
What's it like coaching the best high school player in the country?
-
Participants were also tracked during the second year in high school to monitor progress towards graduation.
Academic text (2011)
Synonyms
15
2.0
A school for students aged about 11 to 18 that comes after primary school and before college
2
2.1
A school for older teens, usually in grades 9 to 12
2
1.8
A school for teenagers who study grades nine to twelve after middle school
How Early
94
1.3
- US
180
1.1
- US
58
1.4
- US
103
1.4
- US
∞
1.0
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a school that provides secondary education' is directly derivable from combining 'high' (meaning higher/above) with 'school' (an educational institution); a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a later/higher stage of schooling. This is a regular English compound formation and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner would readily comprehend it.
Etymology
High school comes from the idea of a 'higher' school after the first years of learning. The word high shows it is more advanced than primary school, so today high school means the school you go to before college.