open city

Definition of open city

: a city that is not occupied or defended by military forces and that is not allowed to be bombed under international law

Examples of open city in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Yet at September's end the Nazis sued for safe passage out; the Allies found an open city. — Star Tribune, "Review: 'From These Broken Streets,' by Roland Merullo," 24 Dec. 2020 The legislature has proved an irritant for Beijing, as a group of pro-democracy lawmakers have loudly argued that China’s campaign threatens to erode Hong Kong’s status as a global, open city. — New York Times, "China Targets Hong Kong’s Lawmakers as It Squelches Dissent," 11 Nov. 2020 In an effort to curb such raucous conflicts, the council unanimously passed a resolution instituting rules of decorum for open city meetings. — Dallas News, "McKinney Mayor Fuller, councilman Shemwell find common ground, condemn continued aggressive protests," 19 Aug. 2020 The French official opened up the city’s dense medieval alleyways, transforming them into the broad boulevards Paris is famous for today, relieving overcrowding and resulting in a healthier, more beautiful and open city. — Amanda Shendruk, Quartz, "Paris is purposefully walkable—and has lessons for post-pandemic cities," 2 July 2020 While Singapore’s officials were credited with a swift, clear, and effective response in the early stages of the outbreak, the global spread of the virus has brought a new wave of challenges to the small and open city state. — Michelle Jamrisko, Bloomberg.com, "Singapore Faces Bigger Contraction as Malaysia Shuts Borders," 10 May 2020 Despite advice from healthcare officials, some local governments have already decided to open cities in places like Georgia and South Carolina. — Asia Ewart, refinery29.com, "Stay At Home Orders Are Coming To An End — So, Which Businesses Will Reopen First?," 27 Apr. 2020 Litchfield Park Four candidates are running for three open City Council seats in Litchfield Park. — Lorraine Longhi, azcentral, "Election 2020: Here are candidates for mayor, council filing to run in Arizona cities," 7 Apr. 2020 Two candidates are running for mayor and five candidates seek three open City Council seats in the all-mail general election on March 10. — Paulina Pineda, azcentral, "Youth group finds new venue for Tempe candidate forum after city cancels debate," 29 Jan. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'open city.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

10 Jan 2021

Cite this Entry

“Open city.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/open%20city. Accessed 25 Jan. 2021.

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