Meaning of class in English

class

noun

/klɑːs/ us

/klæs/

class noun (TEACHING GROUP)

Add to word list Add to word list

A1 [ C, + sing/pl verb ]

a group of students who are taught together at school, college, or university:

Which class are you in this year?

She gave the whole class extra homework for a week.

My class (= the people in my class) was/were rather noisy this morning.

[ as form of address ] Okay, class, settle down and open your books.

A1 [ C, + sing/pl verb ]

a period of time in which students are taught something:

My last class ends at four o'clock.

in class I was told off for talking in class.

take a class Who takes your environmental studies class?

teach a class I teach a class on crochet at the weekends.

Classes have been cancelled today because of a staff meeting.

[ C ]

a period of time in which people exercise together with an instructor, sometimes with music:

exercise class

gym class

fitness class

gym class

spin class

aerobics class I missed my aerobics class yesterday.

the class of 2012, 2013, etc. mainly US

a group of students who successfully finished their studies in a particular year:

The class of 2004 achieved the highest ever SAT scores in this district.

More examplesFewer examples

Sophie is way ahead of the other children in her class.
She never paid attention in class and seemed to be in a permanent daydream.
I think it's important to reduce class sizes in schools.
We've started going to a keep-fit class at the sports centre.
She's signed up for evening classes at the community college.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Students & pupils

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Classes & courses

class noun (ECONOMIC GROUP)

B2 [ C or U ]

a group of people within society who have the same economic and social position:

working class The Labour Party has lost a lot of support among the working class.

upper class She belongs to the rich American upper class.

middle class We live in a middle class neighbourhood.

upper middle class She comes from an upper middle class background.

ruling class He was a member of the ruling classes.

class structure She's studying the class structure of Japan.

Compare

caste

See also

underclass

More examplesFewer examples

The upper classes usually send their children to expensive private schools.
There is a widening gulf between the middle classes and the poorest sections of society.
The upper middle class tend to go into business or the professions, becoming, for example, lawyers, doctors, or accountants.
The working class usually reacts in a predictable way to government policies.
In those days people were expected to marry someone from their own social class.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Class & class-consciousness in general

See more results »

class noun (RANK)

A2 [ C ]

a group into which goods, services, or people are put according to their standard:

first class Whenever I travel by train, I always travel first class.

second class second class mail

business class a business class ticket

economy class I purchased a ticket in economy class.

[ C ]

in the UK, the standard that someone has reached in their university degree:

What class of degree did you get?

He graduated with a second-class honours degree in physics.

class A/B/C drug

in UK law, a group of illegal drugs classified according to how dangerous they are thought to be and how severe the punishment is for using or selling them, with class A the most dangerous :

He was charged with possession of a class A drug, namely heroin.

be in a class of your own

to be the best at a particular activity:

As a long-distance runner, she's in a class of her own.

be in a class by itself/of its own

to be something of such a high quality that nothing can be compared to it:

In New York, it is clear that Dominican hair salons are in a class of their own.

be in a different class

to be the best or much better than other people at a particular activity:

When it comes to mathematics, he's in a different class from his peers.

be out of someone's class

to be much better or more attractive than someone else:

I can't play chess with him. He's completely out of my class!

More examplesFewer examples

They always fly economy class.
Because of the delay, we were offered seats in first class.
I'd like you to send this for me first class, please.
Most of the girls were good at drawing, but Jenny was in a class of her own.
When it comes to cooking, Jane's in a different class to the rest of us.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Quality and standard

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Marks & results

class noun (STYLE)

[ U ]

the quality of being stylish or fashionable:

She's got real class.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Modern & fashionable

See more results »

class noun (BIOLOGY)

[ C ] biology specialized

a group of related plants or animals, in the general classification of plants and animals

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Species & genders

See more results »

class

verb [ T ]

/klɑːs/ us

/klæs/

to consider someone or something to belong to a particular group because of their or its qualities:

I'm 17, but I'm still classed as a child when I travel by bus.

I would class her among the top ten American novelists.

Synonym

sort

Compare

classify

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Classifying and creating order

See more results »

class

adjective

informal

/klɑːs/ us

/klæs/

very good:

a class act

UK He's a class golfer.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Informal words for good

See more results »

(Definition of class from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

class | American Dictionary

class

noun

/klæs/

class noun (TEACHING GROUP)

Add to word list Add to word list

[ C ]

a group of students who are taught together at school, or a short period in which a particular subject is taught:

She got in trouble for talking in class.

[ C ]

The class of a particular year is the group of students who will complete their studies that year:

The class of 2003 is very large.

class noun (ECONOMIC GROUP)

[ C/U ]

a group of people within a society who have the same economic and social position:

[ U ] Most of us think of ourselves as middle class.

class noun (RANK)

[ C ]

the ranking of goods and services or people’s skills according to what they provide or how good they are:

Whenever I fly, I go business class.

She’s a first-class teacher.

class noun (STYLE)

[ U ]

the quality of being stylish or fashionable:

She dresses with a lot of class.

class noun (BIOLOGY)

[ C ] biology

a group of plants or animals with similar biological structure

classy

adjective us

/ˈklæs·i/

He drives a very classy car.

Idiom

in a class by your/itself

class

verb [ T ]

/klæs/

class verb [T] (RANK)

to rank:

I would class her with the best American violinists.

(Definition of class from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

class | Business English

class

noun

/klɑːs/ us

Add to word list Add to word list

[ C or U ]

a group of people within society who have the same economic or social position:

As rents increased, working class families left the city in search of more affordable neighborhoods.

upper/middle/lower class

[ C ] COMMERCE

a standard based on price and quality:

The planes will have reclining seats for customers in first class.

She and her husband run a luxury-class holiday accommodation business.

[ C ] COMMERCE

a group into which goods and services are put based on their characteristics:

Your shipment's freight class determines the carrier's shipping charges.

a class of sth At issue is a class of mortgages that lenders call "subprime" because they do not qualify for the lowest or prime interest rate.

[ C ]

a series of lessons on a particular subject:

a class in/on sth As part of a class in international relations, the conference aimed to teach students the art of negotiations.

enrol in a class And so that fall, I enrolled in an agribusiness marketing class.

take/go to/attend classes For the past two years he's been taking night classes while also working full-time as a nurse.

hold/offer/teach a class

See also

best in class
business class noun
economy class
first class adjective
second-class adjective

(Definition of class from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Collocations with class

class

These are words often used in combination with class.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

asset class

However, this strategy implies excessive concentration of risks in one asset class.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

class stratification

It is probably to this period that we should assign the consolidation of the class stratification between a pastoral nobility and an agricultural peasantry.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

dance class

In 1925 a dance class for young girls was created.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

See all collocations with class

What is the pronunciation of class?