publics

Noun

public (countable and uncountable, plural publics)

1. Chiefly preceded by the: members of the community or the people in general, regardless of membership of any particular group.
   • Members of the public may not proceed beyond this point.
2. Preceded by a possessive determiner such as my, your, or their: a group of people who support a particular person, especially a performer, a writer, etc.; an audience, a following.
   • By dint of drinking acid tiff, as above mentioned, and smoking segars, in which I am no novice, my Public are to be informed, that I gradually drank and smoked myself into a certain degree of acquaintance with un homme comme il faut [a decent man], one of the few fine old specimens of nobility who...1823, [Walter Scott], “Introduction”, in Quentin Durward. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page xiii
3. (often public relations) Often preceded by the and a qualifying word: a particular demographic or group of people, or segment of the population, sharing some common characteristic.
   • the cinema-going public
   1. (often public relations) A group of people sharing some common cultural, political, or social interest, but not necessarily having any interactions with each other.
4. (obsolete) Chiefly preceded by the: a collective body of a politically organized nation or state; a body politic, a nation, a state; also, the interest or well-being of such a collective body; the common good.

   Synonyms:

   commonweal, public interest, public good

5. (US, obsolete, university slang) At Harvard University: a penalty imposed on a student involving a grade reduction which is communicated to the student's parents or guardian.

See all 22 meanings of public