class

Pluralclasses

Formsclasses, classing, classed

1. 1
   teaching groupnouncountable or uncountable

   A group of students who meet regularly with a teacher for instruction.

   The class fell silent as the professor began the lecture.

   A noisy class can be hard for any teacher to manage.

   UsageUsually a singular verb (the class was noisy), though they and their can refer back to the students.

2. 2
   typenouncountable

   A group or category of things that share common characteristics or attributes.

   Mathematicians group these numbers into a single class defined by a shared property.

   The new rule applies to a whole class of chemical compounds.

   Similarcategory, type, kind, group, sort

3. 3
   coursenouncountable or uncountable

   A series of lessons that cover one subject over an extended period.

   He enrolled in an evening photography class to learn the basics.

   The cooking class runs for eight weeks.

   UsageSay take a class or sign up for a class, and a class in or on a subject.

   Similarcourse

4. 4
   lessonnouncountable or uncountable

   An individual lesson forming one session within a longer series.

   The first class of the term covered basic safety rules.

   She stayed after class to ask the instructor a question.

   UsageNo article in common phrases: in class, after class, before class, miss class.

   Similarlesson, session, lecture

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A division of society based on wealth, occupation, or social status, or the organization of society into such divisions.

   Economists study how the working class has changed over recent decades.

   Tensions between social classes shaped much of the country's politics.

   UsageSay the working class, but usually hyphenate before a noun: working-class voters. Without an article, class can refer to social position or society's divisions.

   Similarstratum, rank

   Note

   Latin classis named a division of the Roman citizens, so this sense stays close to the word's early meaning.

6. 6
   year groupnouncountable

   A group of students who began or finished their studies in the same year.

   She was voted most likely to succeed by her graduating class.

   The class of 1995 donated a bench to the campus.

   UsageUsually the class of + a year: the class of 1995.

   Similarcohort, year

7. 7
   seating levelnouncountable

   A category of seating on an airplane, train, or other form of mass transport, differing in price and comfort.

   She upgraded to a higher class for the overnight flight.

   Tickets in business class sold out within hours.

   UsageOften with no article, almost like an adverb: fly business class, travel first class.

   Note

   Railways divided passengers this way too. Andrew Martin's Underground Overground (2012) records the City & South London as the first British passenger railway to offer only one class. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Railways historically divided passengers into seating classes. foi.tfl.gov.uk
   • Andrew Martin wrote Underground Overground, first published in 2012. profilebooks.com
   • Martin's book identifies the City & South London as the first British passenger railway to offer only one class. en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   nouncountable or uncountable

   Impressive stylishness, skill, or dignified behavior; the quality of being excellent of its kind, as in 'she handled defeat with class'.

   The veteran striker brought a level of class no other player could match.

   Everything about the venue spoke of genuine class.

   UsageCommon frames: with class, real class, pure class. The class of a group is its best member.

   Similarstyle, elegance, quality, distinction, sophistication

   Note

   Sports pages often use it in the frame "the class of": the class of the field, the class of the far west. The Chicago Tribune used it in 1913 and 1929, and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin still used it in 2009 ("the class of the OIA"). In that frame it picks out the best of a group; on its own, as in handling defeat with class, it means graceful conduct. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • The Chicago Tribune used 'the class of the field' in 1913. en.wiktionary.org
   • The Chicago Tribune used 'the class of the far west' in 1929. en.wiktionary.org
   • The Honolulu Star-Bulletin used 'the class of the OIA' in 2009. en.wiktionary.org
   • It identifies the best of a group, including a competitor or team, without necessarily asserting victory in a contest. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   programmingnouncountable

   A template that defines a set of objects sharing the same behavior, though they usually differ in the data they hold.

   Like an architect's blueprint: one drawing produces many houses that share a layout but differ in paint and furniture.

   The class encapsulates both the data and the methods that operate on it.

   She refactored the base class so that other parts of the program could reuse it.

   Note

   Programmers treat a class as the blueprint and the objects made from it as instances. The instances share behavior, but each holds its own state. The word collects modifiers as designs grow. A base class is one that others build on, and an abstract base class cannot be instantiated directly, only extended. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • A class supplies a blueprint for objects, which are its instances. docs.oracle.com
   • Instances share class-defined behavior and hold their own state. oracle.com
   • A base class is a class from which other classes derive. docs.oracle.com
   • An abstract base class cannot be instantiated directly, but direct use of its static members is possible. docs.oracle.com
10. 10
    biologynouncountable

    A rank in the classification of living things, below phylum and above order; a group of organisms at that rank.

    Mammals form a single class within the animal kingdom.

    Frogs, toads and salamanders all belong to the class Amphibia.

    Note

    Taxonomists use class both for a rung of the ladder and for any group standing on it. Before a formal name it works almost like a title. The lowercase class sits in front of a capitalized Latin name, as in the class Mammalia for mammals. Large classes split into orders, often with subclasses as an extra rung between the two.

11. 11
    verbtransitive

    To put someone or something into a particular category or group, or to be regarded as belonging to one, as in 'the drug is classed as a stimulant'.

    Officials class the documents according to their level of secrecy.

    Critics often class her work alongside the great modernists.

    UsageUsually class something as, with, or among, often in the passive: classed as a fruit.

    Similarclassify, categorize, group, rank

12. 12
    adjectivedialectalGeordieIreland

    Excellent or impressively stylish.

    The restaurant put on a class meal for the celebration.

    She threw a really class party, with live jazz and candlelit tables.

    UsageOften strengthened with really, truly, or absolutely (absolutely class), and used both before a noun (a class meal) and after a verb (that was class).

    Similarexcellent, superb, brilliant, classy, great

    Oppositeawful, terrible

    Note

    This adjective is best known from Irish and Geordie slang, where something good is simply class. It reaches American writing too: the marketing author Erik Qualman's Socialnomics (2009) calls a publisher "a truly class outfit".

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