Word.ws English Dictionary

three Rs

three Rs noun: the basic education received in primary schools, especially (but not necessarily limited to) reading, writing and arithmetic.

Noun

the three Rs pl (plural only)

  1. (plural, plural-only) The basic education received in primary schools, especially (but not necessarily limited to) reading, writing and arithmetic.
    • “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.1875, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, chapter 8, in Eight Cousins
    • 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.1885 July, “A Forgotten Pamphleteer”, in Tinsleys’ Magazine, volume 37, London: Tinsley Brothers, page 84
  2. (broadly, plural, plural-only) The basic precepts of any subject matter.
    • Chapter 11: The Big C and the Three Rs: Chores, Relaxation, Recreation, and Rebellion2002, Barbara Coloroso, Kids are Worth It!: Giving Your Child the Gift of Inner Discipline
  3. (plural, plural-only) Reduce, reuse and recycle.

Forms of three Rs

alternative formthree R's

Origin of three Rs

From the initial consonant in the pronunciation of reading, (w)riting, (a)rithmetic (aphetically), 1820s.

Questions about three Rs

What does three Rs mean?
Three Rs means the basic education received in primary schools, especially (but not necessarily limited to) reading, writing and arithmetic.
What part of speech is three Rs?
Three Rs is a noun.

Words near three Rs in the dictionary

  1. three R's
  2. three ring circus
  3. three ring circuses
  4. Three Rivers
  5. Three Rocks
  6. three Rs
  7. three score and fifth
  8. three score and ten
  9. three seconds rule
  10. three seconds rules
  11. three sheets

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: three Rs (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-three Rs.ogg.

Cite this entry: “three Rs.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/three_rs. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.