(~es, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ is a group of pupils or students who are taught together.
He had to spend about six months in a ~ with younger students...
Reducing ~ sizes should be a top priority.
N-COUNT
2.
A ~ is a course of teaching in a particular subject.
He acquired a law degree by taking ~es at night...
I go to dance ~es here in New York.
= lesson
N-COUNT: oft n N
3.
If you do something in ~, you do it during a lesson in school.
There is lots of reading in ~.
N-UNCOUNT: in N
4.
The students in a school or university who finish their course in a particular year are often referred to as the ~ of that year.
These two members of Yale’s Class of ’57 never miss a reunion.
N-SING: N of date
5.
Class refers to the division of people in a society into groups according to their social status.
...the relationship between social ~es...
...the characteristics of the British ~ structure.
N-VAR
see also chattering ~es , middle ~ , upper ~ , working ~
6.
A ~ of things is a group of them with similar characteristics.
...the division of the stars into six ~es of brightness.
N-COUNT: usu N of n
7.
If someone or something is ~ed as a particular thing, they are regarded as belonging to that group of things.
Since the birds inter-breed they cannot be ~ed as different species...
I ~ myself as an ordinary working person...
I would ~ my garden as medium in size...
Malaysia wants to send back refugees ~ed as economic migrants.
VERB: be V-ed as n/adj, V pron-refl as n, V n as adj/n, V-ed
8.
If you say that someone or something has ~, you mean that they are elegant and sophisticated. (INFORMAL)
He’s got the same style off the pitch as he has on it–sheer ~.
N-UNCOUNT approval
9.
see also business ~ , first-~ , second-~ , third-~ , top-~ , world-~
10.
If someone is in a ~ of their own, they have more of a particular skill or quality than anyone else. If something is in a ~ of its own, it is better than any other similar thing.
As a player, he was in a ~ of his own.
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR