public health

noun

: the art and science dealing with the protection and improvement of community health by organized community effort and including preventive medicine and sanitary and social science

Examples of public health in a Sentence

a disease that poses a serious threat to public health She got her degree in public health. Public health officials warned of an influenza outbreak.
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.
According to the American Mosquito Control Association, mosquitoes are not only a nuisance but also a public health concern, capable of carrying diseases like West Nile virus. Connie Etemadi, USA Today, 7 Nov. 2025 With a long tradition of vaccine development and massive immunization campaigns in the 1960s-1990s which were often implemented by the military, Brazil’s public health managers vaccinated more than 10 million children for polio in a single day in 1983. Adriana Brasileiro, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025 The scrutiny is especially troubling to many public health authorities, coming amid new outbreaks of diseases like measles and whooping cough. NPR, 7 Nov. 2025 The state would also seek to add community health workers, who are frontline public health workers and who either are part of or have built trust with particular communities. Madeline Heim, jsonline.com, 7 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for public health

Word History

First Known Use

1617, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of public health was in 1617

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Cite this Entry

“Public health.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/public%20health. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.

Medical Definition

public health

noun
pub·​lic health ˌpəb-lik- How to pronounce public health (audio)
: the art and science dealing with the protection and improvement of community health by organized community effort and including preventive medicine and sanitary and social science

More from Merriam-Webster on public health

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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