public square

noun

1

: an open public area in a city or town where people gather

St. Mark's Square in Venice is sinking at a time when this Italian city's popularity is rising. The world's most famous public square now floods an average of three out of every five days.

—Tom Crosby

Mexico City's Zócalo … is the country's main public square and the second largest in the world after Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

—Natalia Cano

2

: the sphere of public opinion

In an August 2007 speech, then-New York governor Eliot Spitzer expounded upon Reinhold Niebuhr and the virtues of humility in the public square.

—Lisa Miller

… using legal action to cow an opponent into silence, and withdrawal from the public square.

—Mark Steyn

Examples of public square in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Plans for 2027 include more than 50 new trees, 100 new seats, two public squares, rest areas and better signage and lighting. — Reuters, NBC news, 26 Oct. 2026

The move is the first step in a makeover of the storied shopping precinct, with plans to plant trees, install seating and add two new public squares. — Danica Kirka, Fortune, 26 Oct. 2026

In that raucous public square known as Reddit, anti-Trumpers are planning protests, evidence that Trump should not expect an overwhelmingly enthusiastic welcome in the traditionally red Sunflower State. — Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 16 Oct. 2026

Rossi interpreted the idea of the piazza quite literally, arranging the service’s pieces like structures around a public square. — Robb Report, 9 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1757, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for public square

• aftercare
• anywhere
• billionaire
• chinaware
• debonair
• dinnerware
• disrepair
• doctrinaire
• earthenware
• everywhere
• frigidaire
• kitchenware