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

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

Nationally, millions of protesters clogged streets and public squares in major cities and tiny towns from New York City to Boston, Chicago and San Diego. —Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 19 Oct. 2025

There has been some sort of Christmas market in Madrid’s main public square, Plaza Mayor, since the 17th century. —Sophie Friedman, AFAR Media, 18 Oct. 2025

As leaders of the presidential panel and current Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé met inside Thursday, automatic gunfire could be heard on the Champ-de-Mars, the sprawling public square bordering the palace grounds. —Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 10 Oct. 2025

Five years ago, as demonstrators streamed into public squares to protest the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, many institutions — from public school districts to the State Board of Education — promoted and committed to equity in schools. —Lily Altavena, Freep.com, 25 Sep. 2025

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