1 public house | Definition of public house

public house

noun

Definition of public house

1 : inn, hostelry
2 chiefly British : a licensed saloon or bar

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Examples of public house in a Sentence

took lodging at a cheap public house in a seedy part of town visited a public house in London that has been welcoming customers since the time of Charles Dickens

Recent Examples on the Web

Scruton is a philosopher and conservative thinker of great renown, and he had been put on a government commission dedicated to the building of more beautiful public houses. β€” Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, "Ben Penn’s Bad-Faith Hit Job on Leif Olson," 3 Sep. 2019 Where is the reader to turn for more information about the travesty birth, staged in a public house in 1810, in which, with the assistance of a pair of bellows, a man was delivered of a Cheshire cheese? β€” Caleb Crain, New York Times, "In One City, 2,000 Years of Gay History," 21 June 2018 Bristol Pub Crawl tours taverns and public houses and pours four alcoholic drinks, one at each pub. β€” Shonda Talerico Dudlicek, chicagotribune.com, "The Bristol Renaissance Faire takes guests back to 1599," 13 May 2018 According to the Morning Advertiser, the U.K.’s leading trade newspaper for the pub sector, two public houses now close their doors for good every day. β€” Kate Samuelson / London, Time, "The Classic British Pub is Trying to Survive Challenging Times," 4 May 2018 Some of them opened public houses on the merits of their reputation; others took to the stage or the circus. β€” Longreads, "The Roaring Girls of Queer London," 8 May 2018 The pub is owned by Amber Taverns, who reopened in four years ago after the building was previously a public house but had been vacant for a number of years. β€” Kate Samuelson / London, Time, "The Classic British Pub is Trying to Survive Challenging Times," 4 May 2018 The public house, which was previously known as The Oaklands Inn, is reportedly the first to pay homage to Prince Louis. β€” Kara Thompson, Town & Country, "A Pub in Essex Just Renamed Itself After Prince Louis," 2 May 2018 Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is set to answer questions about the tariffs at a public House committee hearing Thursday, a day before they are expected to take effect. β€” William Mauldin, WSJ, "U.S. Outlines Rules for Metal-Using Companies Seeking Tariff Exclusions," 16 Mar. 2018

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

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First Known Use of public house

1658, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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More from Merriam-Webster on public house

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for public house

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about public house