public sector

Alternative forms

• public-sector (as adjective)

Etymology

public + sector

Noun

public sector (plural public sectors)

1. Any government and all entities that are controlled or funded by it and deliver public services.
2. The area of the nation's affairs under governmental rather than private control. (Should we delete⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)
3. Industries or services provided or funded by the government. (Should we delete⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)
   • 2013 June 7, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 19:

     It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. […] It is the starving of the public sector which has been pivotal in America no longer being the land of opportunity – with a child's life prospects more dependent on the income and education of its parents than in other advanced countries.

Adjective

public sector (not comparable)

1. Of or relating to a public sector.