plaza

noun

pla·za | \ ˈplä-zə

Definition of plaza

1a : 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 Pacific Theatres proposed to demolish the existing plaza, box offices, and marquee; replace the lobby with a restaurant; and eliminate the curved screen in favor of a stadium-seating layout. — Alissa Walker, Curbed, "Don’t Worry, the Cinerama Dome Won’t Get Demolished (Probably)," 13 Apr. 2021 The couple had already planned an outdoor wedding in the plaza of the Capitol Park Museum in Baton Rouge, so no venue change was required because of the coronavirus pandemic. — New York Times, "Their Focus Was on the Marriage, Not the Wedding," 9 Apr. 2021 The novelty would be a large great white shark statue suspended by its tail on a supporting marine pole frame at the main entrance plaza of the store. — al, "Giant shark display planned for Gulf Shores Alvin’s Island stirs debate," 2 Apr. 2021 An empty plaza outside the Conference Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City in October 2020. — The Salt Lake Tribune, "Coming Sunday: A special LDS General Conference section," 26 Mar. 2021 Another feature of the arena will be a 36,000-square-foot outdoor plaza on the southwest corner of the property, closest to the new aquatics center. — Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Permits approved for Oceanside’s indoor sports arena," 23 Feb. 2021 Shoppers can enjoy fare at an extensive food court or venture outside to the mall’s 75,000-square-foot, open-air plaza. — baltimoresun.com, "Guide to Howard County 2021: Shopping," 19 Feb. 2021 In turn, the city would be able to build a five-story parking deck with 300 spaces to replace parking lost once the lot west of the Walton Arts Center becomes the civic plaza of the arts corridor. — Stacy Ryburn, Arkansas Online, "Fayetteville council holds parking deck contract, farm rezoning," 17 Dec. 2020 The flags on the front plaza of the court will be flown at half-staff for 30 days, the Supreme Court says. — Caitlin O'kane, CBS News, "Supreme Court drapes black crepe over Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat to honor the trailblazing justice," 21 Sep. 2020

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