public company

American  

noun

British.

1. a company that has more than 50 shareholders and whose shares are offered for public subscription.

---

public company British  

noun

1. a limited company whose shares may be purchased by the public and traded freely on the open market and whose share capital is not less than a statutory minimum; public limited company Compare private company

---

public company Cultural  

1. A company that sells shares in itself to the public to raise capital. When a previously privately owned company offers shares, it is said to “go public.”

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

public company

Anthropic may be just days away from making a major step toward becoming a public company — but there’s still time for things to change.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026

"There's no real precedent for how a public company like Tesla gets priced in this," Sheehan said.

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026

Valentine-Poska said family-office board work involves a closer working relationship with the owners than a public company, because she is helping to put governance in place and educating shareholders.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026

But this isn’t buying stock in a public company.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

He looked as though he did not take his salary from the public company, whose servant he was, for a sinecure.

From The Idiot by Eva M. Martin

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---