public company

American  

noun

British.

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

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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

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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.”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

public company

Shares of Fervo, which became a public company in May at $27 a share, have traded under $10 for the past two weeks and are down nearly 60% in the past three months.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026

Earlier this month, Powerus also became a public company as Velicovich and his partners, cheering and flanked by their families, rang the opening bell at the Nasdaq stock exchange.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

And for the second time in its history as a public company, it showed negative free cash flow, this time in excess of $9bn.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

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

When my father took me to Italy, I continued averse to public company.

From Thaddeus of Warsaw by Jane Porter

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