public service

noun

1

: the business of supplying a commodity (such as electricity or gas) or service (such as transportation) to any or all members of a community

2

: a service rendered in the public interest

3

: governmental employment

especially : civil service

Examples of public service in a Sentence

The cost of public services is on the rise.

The station is running antismoking commercials as a public service.

The company is heavily involved in public service.

He works in public service.

She has devoted her life to public service.

Recent Examples on the Web

Menendez's attorneys, however, are advocating for a sentence of less than two years, pointing to his decades of public service and his rise from poverty as the son of Cuban immigrants. —Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025

Menendez’s lawyer, Adam Fee, argued Wednesday that the disgraced 71-year-old lawmaker deserved credit for his nearly five decades of public service. —Barnini Chakraborty, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 29 Jan. 2025

But even those lofty aspirations succeed, the government must also tackle the short and medium-term grievances of a population dismayed by crumbling public services, comparatively low wages and crises in housing supply, migration and the cost of living. —Rob Picheta, CNN, 29 Jan. 2025

Some worry that the government is shirking its responsibility to provide public services, instead expecting local citizens to fund such projects with remittance money. —Whitney Eulich, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1576, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

public service

noun

1

: the business of supplying a commodity (as electricity or gas) or service (as transportation) to any or all members of a community

2

: governmental employment

especially : civil service