three rs
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.17 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The basic education received in primary schools, especially (but not necessarily limited to) reading, writing and arithmetic.
noun
The basic precepts of any subject matter.
Example Sentences
- "“You shall teach me, and when I am a woman we will set up a school where nothing but the three R's shall be taught, and all the children live on oatmeal, and the girls have waists a yard round,” said Rose, with a sudden saucy smile dimpling her cheeks."
- "From these studies the schoolmaster would sally forth into his school-rooms, and instruct his boys in the religion, the fanaticism of Hugolatry. He taught them nothing else. Hugo was for him the three R’s, catechism and grammar, deportment and the use of the globe."
- "Elementary schools have already done a noble work, but among many of them the demand has now arisen for something more than the three R’s and simple Bible-teaching."
- "Chapter 11: The Big C and the Three Rs: Chores, Relaxation, Recreation, and Rebellion"
Etymology
From the initial consonant in the pronunciation of reading, (w)riting, (a)rithmetic (aphetically), 1820s.
Inflected Forms
the three Rs (canonical, plural)
three R's (alternative)