public square
noun
1
: an open public area in a city or town where people gather
St. Mark's Square in Venice is sinking at a time when this Italian city's popularity is rising. The world's most famous public square now floods an average of three out of every five days.—
Tom Crosby
Tom Crosby
Mexico City's Zócalo … is the country's main public square and the second largest in the world after Tiananmen Square in Beijing.—Natalia Cano
Natalia Cano
2
: the sphere of public opinion
In an August 2007 speech, then-New York governor Eliot Spitzer expounded upon Reinhold Niebuhr and the virtues of humility in the public square.—Lisa Miller
Lisa Miller
… using legal action to cow an opponent into silence, and withdrawal from the public square.—Mark Steyn
Mark Steyn
Examples of public square in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Democracy and the Role of Commenting in Society Comment sections have been hailed as spaces that allow for deliberation to unfold, a digital version of public squares that allow for people to come together and have debates about political ideas. —Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Apr. 2026 Every Monday night in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo, hundreds gather around a table in a public square, drawn by the pulse of drums, guitars and voices carrying aloft a centuries-old rhythm. —ABC News, 19 Apr. 2026 Numerous shopping streets and public squares have been obliterated by US and Israeli strikes, transport infrastructure has been destroyed, and residents complain of persistently high inflation. —Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 10 Apr. 2026 The announcement follows the Mexico leg of the tour, where Shakira drew 400,000 fans to a free concert at Mexico City’s Zócalo on March 1 — the largest crowd ever recorded in the city’s main public square, according to officials. —Jem Aswad, Variety, 1 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for public square
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Apr. 2026 Every Monday night in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo, hundreds gather around a table in a public square, drawn by the pulse of drums, guitars and voices carrying aloft a centuries-old rhythm. —ABC News, 19 Apr. 2026 Numerous shopping streets and public squares have been obliterated by US and Israeli strikes, transport infrastructure has been destroyed, and residents complain of persistently high inflation. —Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 10 Apr. 2026 The announcement follows the Mexico leg of the tour, where Shakira drew 400,000 fans to a free concert at Mexico City’s Zócalo on March 1 — the largest crowd ever recorded in the city’s main public square, according to officials. —Jem Aswad, Variety, 1 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for public square
Cite this Entry
“Public square.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/dictionary/public%20square. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.
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