plaza

noun

pla·​za ˈplä-zə  ˈpla- 

1

a

: a public square in a city or town

b

: an open area usually located near urban buildings and often featuring walkways, trees and shrubs, places to sit, and sometimes shops

2

: a place on a thoroughfare (such as a turnpike) at which all traffic must temporarily stop (as to pay tolls)

3

: an area adjacent to an expressway which has service facilities (such as a restaurant, gas station, and restrooms)

4

: shopping center

Examples of plaza in a Sentence

They put his statue in the town's plaza.

Recent Examples on the Web

The three-pronged structure, with its central plaza and slow-moving foot traffic, offers just enough distraction. —Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 28 Feb. 2026

The service-plaza debacle wasn’t the only instance where Tibbits-Nutt brought negative attention to the Healey administration. —Tim Dunn, Boston Herald, 27 Feb. 2026

Edmondson shopping plaza shooting The case relied heavily on video surveillance. —Mike Hellgren, CBS News, 27 Feb. 2026

The first phase, completed in May 2019, included a parking lot, walkways and construction of a concrete cap on what was the school’s foundation that will be used for a plaza. —Kamal Morgan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Spanish, from Latin platea broad street — more at place

First Known Use

1683, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing plaza

• toll plaza

Rhymes for plaza

• causa

Kids Definition

plaza

noun

pla·​za ˈplaz-ə  ˈpläz- 

: a public square in a city or town