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Showing results for public goods. Search instead for Public+Goods.

public goods

British  

plural noun

  1. services such as national defence, law enforcement, and road building, that are for the benefit of, and available to, all members of the public

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

That was from an international rules-based order, under “American hegemony,” which he said “helped provide public goods, open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security, and support for frameworks for resolving disputes.”

From Barron's • Jan. 24, 2026

Doctorow’s concept about online platforms has since been applied everywhere and anywhere you can find capitalism hollowing out public goods.

From Slate • Oct. 30, 2024

Such goods are the only feasible way to improve the lives of your supporters, while also — by virtue of these being public goods — benefiting members of the opposition.

From Salon • Sep. 29, 2024

Economist Arvind Subramanian calls this Mr Modi's "New Welfarism", funding essential private items like toilets, rather than expanding public goods such as primary education and healthcare.

From BBC • May 8, 2024

Indeed they were common property at the post, most of them handed down with the rest of the public goods and chattels by their predecessors of the ----th.

From An Apache Princess A Tale of the Indian Frontier by Remington, Frederic

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