| / English Dictionary |
PUBLIC
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A body of people sharing some common interest
Example:
the reading public
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("public" is a kind of...):
body (a group of persons associated by some common tie or occupation and regarded as an entity)
Sense 2
Meaning:
People in general considered as a whole
Example:
he is a hero in the eyes of the public
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("public" is a kind of...):
people ((plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively)
Meronyms (members of "public"):
audience (the part of the general public interested in a source of information or entertainment)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "public"):
admass (the segment of the public that is easily influenced by mass media (chiefly British))
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Affecting the people or community as a whole
Example:
the public welfare
Classified under:
Similar:
common (belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Not private; open to or concerning the people as a whole
Example:
performers and members of royal families are public figures
Classified under:
Similar:
in the public eye (of great interest to the public)
national (owned or maintained for the public by the national government)
open (open to or in view of all)
semipublic (having some of the features of public institution)
state-supported (supported and operated by the government of a state)
unexclusive; unrestricted (not restricted or exclusive)
Also:
exoteric (suitable for the general public)
open; overt (open and observable; not secret or hidden)
Antonym:
private (confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy)
Derivation:
publicity (the quality of being open to public view)
Context examples:
In recent decades, exposures to environmental toxic metals such as arsenic, copper, lead, cadmium and mercury, have become a global public health concern.
(Experts warn of cardiovascular risk from heavy metal pollution, University of Cambridge)
Why, you would make a good public speaker.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
She cared not for Mrs Clay, and had nothing to blush for in the public manners of her father and sister.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
This makes it ideal for cities that have growing demand for public transit, but not enough money to build subways.
(Driverless Bus-train Hybrid Runs on Virtual Painted Tracks, VOA)
“Upon my honour,” said James, “in these public assemblies, it is as often done as not.”
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Such antibiotic resistance is now a major public health concern.
(New answer to MRSA, other 'superbug' infections: clay minerals?, NSF)
Also, they treat patients from many parts of the country and give cancer information to health care professionals and the public.
(Comprehensive pediatric cancer center, NCI Dictionary)
“These new self-regulation approaches, which can easily and cost-effectively be shared to help prevent weight gain in young adults, could have a significant impact on our public health.”
(Strategies successfully reduce weight gain in young adults, NIH)
But though confidence between them was, by this public discovery, restored to its proper state, it was not a subject on which either of them were fond of dwelling when alone.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
However, as you have been a long time in the family, I have no wish to bring public disgrace upon you.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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