public school

Meaning

1. Certain private schools, particularly (initially) any grammar school operated apart from the personal lands of its students or (from the 19th century) the feepaying secondary schools which developed from or were modelled upon them; a British boarding school
2. (obsolete) A college or university
3. A publicly funded and administered school; (UK, Ireland) such schools in the context of other countries

Etymology

From public (originally, "communal" and contrasted with personal tutors; later, "state-run" and contrasted with private schools) + school.

Sentences

My tax dollars pay for those public school proms .