public land

noun

: land owned by a government
specifically : that part of the U.S. public domain subject to sale or disposal under the homestead laws

Examples of public land in a Sentence

the management of public lands The government will auction off 20 parcels of public land.
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
The publishing boom comes as interest in America’s public lands remains high. — Bailey Berg, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026 Henkin and his clients argue the proclamation violates the 1906 Antiquities Act, which allows presidents to protect public lands as national monuments but doesn’t grant them the authority to strip protections from existing monuments. — Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026 Temporary closures of public lands, roads and trails managed by the Bureau of Land Management remain in effect and are expected to be lifted on July 11. — Emily Carmela Nelson, Idaho Statesman, 7 July 2026 The federal government is rewriting its rules governing ranching on public lands to increase the number of cattle, sheep and other livestock grazing on 155 million acres in the West, an area twice the size of New Mexico. — Mark Olalde, ProPublica, 7 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for public land

Word History

First Known Use

1789, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of public land was in 1789

Rhymes for public land

See All Rhymes for public land

Browse Nearby Words

public knowledge
public land
public law
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Public land.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/public%20land. Accessed 14 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Legal Definition

public land

noun
: land owned by a government
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of yaw

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All