public holiday

British

noun

a holiday observed over the whole country

"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

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public holiday

However, authorities have also defended the response times of emergency services on what was a public holiday, saying they arrived within minutes, while families at the hospital claimed it took them hours to turn up.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

In Morocco, July 30 was Throne Day, a public holiday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

France has a public holiday for Bastille Day on Wednesday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

The Iranian delegation was welcomed on arrival by Iraqi Prime Minister al-Zaidi, whose government declared Wednesday a public holiday.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

So there is an enormous amount of play—real serious match play—every Saturday afternoon and public holiday.

From Peeps At Many Lands: Australia by Percy F. S. (Percy Frederick Seaton) Spence

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023