Grinds
Private tuition. After-school or evening lessons paid for to bring a student's marks up, prepare for state exams, or fill gaps the school curriculum has left. Always plural in this sense: 'I'm going to grinds tonight' = I have a tutoring session.
Etymology
From the standard English verb 'to grind' meaning to study hard, attested from at least the eighteenth century. The Hiberno-English use specialised the meaning to the paid-tutor relationship: a grinder was a private tutor; grinds were the sessions. The shift from a verb of effort to a noun for paid lessons is a Hiberno-English narrowing that standard English did not adopt.
In a sentence
"She's been going to grinds for maths since January - the Leaving's only weeks away."
Historical notes
Grinds is a fixed part of the Irish education system's vocabulary. Leaving Certificate students booking grinds for maths or Irish in the months before the exam is a normal expense and an established industry. The word does not carry the apologetic register of 'private tutoring' in standard English; grinds are simply what one does to get ahead. Compounds: 'grinds school' (= a private tutorial college), 'grinds teacher' (= a tutor).
Sources
- Oxford English Dictionary, entry grind n. (the educational sense). · dictionary