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 CrosbyMexico 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 Cano2
: 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 SteynExamples of public square in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Hundreds of people gathered at a public square in Tumbler Ridge on Wednesday night, holding candles and laying flowers at a community vigil.
—Hira Humayun, CNN Money, 11 Feb. 2026
In one of the most chilling images of the massacre, dozens of corpses executed by the police were lined up on the ground in a public square.
—Evandro Cruz Silva, The Dial, 10 Feb. 2026
Displaced families often spend weeks, sometimes months, in makeshift dwellings, including public squares and deserted government buildings, while children lose months or even years of education as schools close or become inaccessible owing to gang activity.
—Edwidge Danticat, New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2026
Our public square is loud, diverse and free.
—Haley Ott, CBS News, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for public square
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Hira Humayun, CNN Money, 11 Feb. 2026
In one of the most chilling images of the massacre, dozens of corpses executed by the police were lined up on the ground in a public square.
—Evandro Cruz Silva, The Dial, 10 Feb. 2026
Displaced families often spend weeks, sometimes months, in makeshift dwellings, including public squares and deserted government buildings, while children lose months or even years of education as schools close or become inaccessible owing to gang activity.
—Edwidge Danticat, New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2026
Our public square is loud, diverse and free.
—Haley Ott, CBS News, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for public square
Cite this Entry
“Public square.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/public%20square. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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