pupil

/ˈpjupəl/

/ˈpjupɪl/

Other forms: pupils

A pupil is an old-fashioned word for a young person attending school, or it can be that black dot in the center of your eye's iris. As a pupil, your pupils may dilate when your teacher dims the lights.

If you are a pupil, you are a learner enrolled in an educational institution. As a pupil, you have mastered the act of looking interested while thinking about the beach. Your pupil is also the aperture or opening in the center of your eye that looks like a big black dot. Dilating pupils are a very subtle sign that you are interested, lying, or pretending — or just trying to see in poor lighting.

Definitions of pupil

1. noun

   a learner who is enrolled in an educational institution
   synonyms: educatee, student

   types:

   art student

   someone studying to be an artist

   auditor

   a student who attends a course but does not take it for credit

   catechumen, neophyte

   a new convert being taught the principles of Christianity by a catechist

   college boy, college man, collegian

   a student (or former student) at a college or university

   crammer

   a student who crams

   Etonian

   a student enrolled in (or graduated from) Eton College

   Ivy Leaguer

   a student or graduate at an Ivy League school

   law student

   a student in law school

   major

   a university student who is studying a particular field as the principal subject

   medical student, medico

   a student in medical school

   nonreader

   a student who is very slow in learning to read

   overachiever

   a student who attains higher standards than the IQ indicated

   passer

   a student who passes an examination

   scholar

   a student who holds a scholarship

   seminarian, seminarist

   a student at a seminary (especially a Roman Catholic seminary)

   sixth-former

   a student in the sixth form

   skipper

   a student who fails to attend classes

   nonachiever, underachiever, underperformer

   a student who does not perform as well as expected or as well as the IQ indicates

   withdrawer

   a student who withdraws from the educational institution in which he or she was enrolled

   Wykehamist

   a student enrolled in (or graduated from) Winchester College

   preppy

   a current or former student at an expensive preparatory school

   college student, university student

   a student enrolled in a college or university

   grad student, graduate student, postgraduate

   a student who continues studies after graduation

   Rhodes scholar

   a student who holds one of the scholarships endowed by the will of Cecil J. Rhodes that enables the student to study at Oxford University

   undergrad, undergraduate

   a university student who has not yet received a first degree

   type of:

   enrollee

   a person who enrolls in (or is enrolled in) a class or course of study
2. noun

   a young person attending school (up through senior high school)
   synonyms: school-age child, schoolchild

   types:

   boarder

   a pupil who lives at school during term time

   day boarder

   a schoolchild at a boarding school who has meals at school but sleeps at home

   latchkey child

   a school-age child who is home without adult supervision for part of the day (especially after school until a parent returns home from work)

   schoolboy

   a boy attending school

   dayboy

   a day boarder who is a boy

   daygirl

   a day boarder who is a girl

   type of:

   spring chicken, young person, younker, youth

   a young person (especially a young man or boy)
3. noun

   the contractile aperture in the center of the iris of the eye; resembles a large black dot
   type of:

   aperture

   a natural opening in something