"public service" meaning in English

See public service in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: public services [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} public service (countable and uncountable, plural public services)
  1. (countable) A service performed for the public good. Tags: countable Derived forms: public service announcement Related terms: publification
    Sense id: en-public_service-en-noun-dyd6w01Q
  2. (countable) A service such as health care, transport, or waste removal provided to the general public, often by the government. Tags: countable Translations (service provided to the general public by government or other official body): servei públic [masculine] (Catalan), publika servo (Esperanto), julkinen palvelu (Finnish), julkispalvelu (Finnish), service public [masculine] (French), servizo público [masculine] (Galician), საჯარო სამსახური (saǯaro samsaxuri) (Georgian), öffentliche Dienstleistung [feminine] (German), Daseinsvorsorge [feminine] (German), közszolgáltatás (Hungarian), közszolgálat (Hungarian), pelayanan publik (Indonesian), pelayanan umum (Indonesian), layanan masyarakat (Indonesian), seirbhís phoiblí [feminine] (Irish), assistenza pubblica [feminine] (Italian), servizio pubblico [masculine] (Italian), perkhidmatan awam (Malay), usługa publiczna [masculine] (Polish), serviço público [masculine] (Portuguese), seirbheis chatharra (Scottish Gaelic), servicio público [masculine] (Spanish), utumishi wa umma (Swahili), allmännytta [common-gender] (Swedish), serbisyong publiko (Tagalog), lingkurang-madla (Tagalog)
    Sense id: en-public_service-en-noun-YV5ZaZn- Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 17 57 24 2 Disambiguation of 'service provided to the general public by government or other official body': 13 65 13 10
  3. (countable) The organisation, department or business providing such a service. Tags: countable
    Sense id: en-public_service-en-noun-bwfaJ8dW
  4. (uncountable) Government employment, especially in the civil service. Tags: uncountable Categories (topical): Government
    Sense id: en-public_service-en-noun-M79pe1sa Disambiguation of Government: 0 19 0 81

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for public service meaning in English (8.5kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "public services",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
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      "expansion": "public service (countable and uncountable, plural public services)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "38 27 16 19",
          "word": "public service announcement"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "This has been a public service announcement from the Advertising Council.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1702, Examen Miscellaneum […], Preface",
          "text": "A Hypocrite may put on the World in many specious Duties, to the Ruin of the Public, but never can be a Condidate for Fame, without doing a Public Service, a general Good ev’n by the very Hypocrisy […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A service performed for the public good."
      ],
      "id": "en-public_service-en-noun-dyd6w01Q",
      "links": [
        [
          "service",
          "service"
        ],
        [
          "public good",
          "public good"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) A service performed for the public good."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "38 27 16 19",
          "word": "publification"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "17 57 24 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19",
          "text": "In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. The welfare state is dismantled. Essential public services are cut so that the rich may pay less tax. […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A service such as health care, transport, or waste removal provided to the general public, often by the government."
      ],
      "id": "en-public_service-en-noun-YV5ZaZn-",
      "links": [
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          "general public",
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          "government"
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) A service such as health care, transport, or waste removal provided to the general public, often by the government."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "servei públic"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "word": "publika servo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "word": "julkinen palvelu"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "word": "julkispalvelu"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "service public"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "servizo público"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "ka",
          "lang": "Georgian",
          "roman": "saǯaro samsaxuri",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "word": "საჯარო სამსახური"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "öffentliche Dienstleistung"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Daseinsvorsorge"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "word": "közszolgáltatás"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "word": "közszolgálat"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "id",
          "lang": "Indonesian",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "word": "pelayanan publik"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "id",
          "lang": "Indonesian",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "word": "pelayanan umum"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "id",
          "lang": "Indonesian",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "word": "layanan masyarakat"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "seirbhís phoiblí"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "assistenza pubblica"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "servizio pubblico"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "ms",
          "lang": "Malay",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "word": "perkhidmatan awam"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "usługa publiczna"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "serviço público"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "gd",
          "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "word": "seirbheis chatharra"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "servicio público"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "sw",
          "lang": "Swahili",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "word": "utumishi wa umma"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "allmännytta"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "tl",
          "lang": "Tagalog",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "word": "serbisyong publiko"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "13 65 13 10",
          "code": "tl",
          "lang": "Tagalog",
          "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
          "word": "lingkurang-madla"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "The organisation, department or business providing such a service."
      ],
      "id": "en-public_service-en-noun-bwfaJ8dW",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) The organisation, department or business providing such a service."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "0 19 0 81",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Government",
          "orig": "en:Government",
          "parents": [
            "Politics",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1971, Lyndon Johnson, “‘I feel like I have already been here a year’”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 18",
          "text": "In spite of more than three decades of public service, I knew I was an unknown quantity to many of my countrymen and to much of the world when I assumed office.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 June 7, Meg Hillier, “Standards in Public Life”, in parliamentary debates (House of Commons), volume 715, column 676",
          "text": "We know that there are people in much lower offices in public service who adhere to those principles without question and without problems. Does my right hon. Friend find it regrettable that the Prime Minister does not?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Government employment, especially in the civil service."
      ],
      "id": "en-public_service-en-noun-M79pe1sa",
      "links": [
        [
          "civil service",
          "civil service"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(uncountable) Government employment, especially in the civil service."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "public service"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "en:Government"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "public service announcement"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "public services",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
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      "expansion": "public service (countable and uncountable, plural public services)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "publification"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "This has been a public service announcement from the Advertising Council.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1702, Examen Miscellaneum […], Preface",
          "text": "A Hypocrite may put on the World in many specious Duties, to the Ruin of the Public, but never can be a Condidate for Fame, without doing a Public Service, a general Good ev’n by the very Hypocrisy […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A service performed for the public good."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "service",
          "service"
        ],
        [
          "public good",
          "public good"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) A service performed for the public good."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19",
          "text": "In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. The welfare state is dismantled. Essential public services are cut so that the rich may pay less tax. […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A service such as health care, transport, or waste removal provided to the general public, often by the government."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "health care",
          "health care"
        ],
        [
          "transport",
          "transport"
        ],
        [
          "waste",
          "waste"
        ],
        [
          "general public",
          "general public"
        ],
        [
          "government",
          "government"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) A service such as health care, transport, or waste removal provided to the general public, often by the government."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The organisation, department or business providing such a service."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) The organisation, department or business providing such a service."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1971, Lyndon Johnson, “‘I feel like I have already been here a year’”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 18",
          "text": "In spite of more than three decades of public service, I knew I was an unknown quantity to many of my countrymen and to much of the world when I assumed office.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 June 7, Meg Hillier, “Standards in Public Life”, in parliamentary debates (House of Commons), volume 715, column 676",
          "text": "We know that there are people in much lower offices in public service who adhere to those principles without question and without problems. Does my right hon. Friend find it regrettable that the Prime Minister does not?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Government employment, especially in the civil service."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "civil service",
          "civil service"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(uncountable) Government employment, especially in the civil service."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "servei públic"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "word": "publika servo"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "word": "julkinen palvelu"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "word": "julkispalvelu"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "service public"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "servizo público"
    },
    {
      "code": "ka",
      "lang": "Georgian",
      "roman": "saǯaro samsaxuri",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "word": "საჯარო სამსახური"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "öffentliche Dienstleistung"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Daseinsvorsorge"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "word": "közszolgáltatás"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "word": "közszolgálat"
    },
    {
      "code": "id",
      "lang": "Indonesian",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "word": "pelayanan publik"
    },
    {
      "code": "id",
      "lang": "Indonesian",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "word": "pelayanan umum"
    },
    {
      "code": "id",
      "lang": "Indonesian",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "word": "layanan masyarakat"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "seirbhís phoiblí"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "assistenza pubblica"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "servizio pubblico"
    },
    {
      "code": "ms",
      "lang": "Malay",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "word": "perkhidmatan awam"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "usługa publiczna"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "serviço público"
    },
    {
      "code": "gd",
      "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "word": "seirbheis chatharra"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "servicio público"
    },
    {
      "code": "sw",
      "lang": "Swahili",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "word": "utumishi wa umma"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "allmännytta"
    },
    {
      "code": "tl",
      "lang": "Tagalog",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "word": "serbisyong publiko"
    },
    {
      "code": "tl",
      "lang": "Tagalog",
      "sense": "service provided to the general public by government or other official body",
      "word": "lingkurang-madla"
    }
  ],
  "word": "public service"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-05 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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