National Merit Scholarship: Meaning and Definition of

Na'tional Mer'it Schol"arship

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. one of some 6000 college scholarships awarded annually since 1956, by the nonprofit, grant-supported National Merit Scholarship Corporation, to high-school studentson the basis of scholastic record, personal character, and score on a test administered nationally.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.