What's the difference between private and public?

Private


Definition:

  • (a.) Belonging to, or concerning, an individual person, company, or interest; peculiar to one's self; unconnected with others; personal; one's own; not public; not general; separate; as, a man's private opinion; private property; a private purse; private expenses or interests; a private secretary.
  • (a.) Sequestered from company or observation; appropriated to an individual; secret; secluded; lonely; solitary; as, a private room or apartment; private prayer.
  • (a.) Not invested with, or engaged in, public office or employment; as, a private citizen; private life.
  • (a.) Not publicly known; not open; secret; as, a private negotiation; a private understanding.
  • (a.) Having secret or private knowledge; privy.
  • (n.) A secret message; a personal unofficial communication.
  • (n.) Personal interest; particular business.
  • (n.) Privacy; retirement.
  • (n.) One not invested with a public office.
  • (n.) A common soldier; a soldier below the grade of a noncommissioned officer.
  • (n.) The private parts; the genitals.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) If Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough, who bought the island in 1738, were to return today he would doubtless recognise the scene, though he might be surprised that his small private buildings have grown into a sizable hotel.
  • (2) An “out” vote would severely disrupt our lives, in an economic sense and a private sense.
  • (3) Video games specialist Game was teetering on the brink of collapse on Friday after a rescue deal put forward by private equity firm OpCapita appeared to have been given the cold shoulder by lenders who are owed more than £100m.
  • (4) Adding a layer of private pensions, it was thought, does not involve Government mechanisms and keeps the money in the private sector.
  • (5) The author's experience in private psychoanalytic practice and in Philadelphia's rape victim clinics indicates that these assaults occur frequently.
  • (6) To a supporter at the last election like me – someone who spoke alongside Nick Clegg at the curtain-raiser event for the party conference during the height of Labour's onslaught on civil liberties, and was assured privately by two leaders that the party was onside about civil liberties – this breach of trust and denial of principle is astonishing.
  • (7) Couples in need of help will be "encouraged" to come to a private agreement.
  • (8) It comes as the museum is transforming itself in the wake of major cuts in its government funding and looking more towards private-sector funding, a move that has caused some unease about its future direction.
  • (9) Also on Saturday, the VA said it would allow more veterans to obtain healthcare at private hospitals and clinics.
  • (10) Mike Enzi of Wyoming A senior senator from Wyoming, Enzi worked for the Department of Interior and the private Black Hills Corporation before being elected to Congress.
  • (11) Neil Blessitt Bristol • We need to establish what the legal position is with regard to the establishment by the government of a private company co-owned by the Department of Health and the French firm Sopra Steria.
  • (12) The first source attended was a private practitioner for 53 % of the patients, another private medical establishment for 4 %, a Government chest clinic for only 11 % and another Government medical establishment for 17 %, 9 % went first to a herbalist and 5 % went to a drug store or treated themselves.
  • (13) The government did not spell out the need for private holders of bank debt to take any losses – known as haircuts – under its plans but many analysts believe that this position is untenable.
  • (14) The alignment of Clinton’s Iowa team, all but guaranteeing a declaration of her official campaign before the end of next month, was coming into view amid reports that she was due to address by the end of the week controversy over her use of a private email account as secretary of state.
  • (15) Broad-based secular comprehensives that draw in families across the class, faith and ethnic spectrum, entirely free of private control, could hold a new appeal.
  • (16) But leading British doctors Sarah Creighton , consultant gynaecologist at the private Portland Hospital, Susan Bewley , consultant obstetrician at St Thomas's and Lih-Mei Liao , clinical psychologist in women's health at University College Hospital then wrote to the journal countering that his clitoral restoration claims were "anatomically impossible".
  • (17) The Guardian neglects to mention 150,000 privately owned guns or that Palestinians are banned from bearing arms.
  • (18) Private landowners are able to use property guardians to minimise their tax bills and, although it is hard to estimate, the potential financial loss to councils is substantial.
  • (19) A team-oriented problem-solving procedure using management project teams was developed to improve quality of care and productivity in a private, nonprofit hospital.
  • (20) Yet private student loans – given out by banks and financial institutions to the students who can’t get a federal loan – don’t get as much attention as the federal system.

Public


Definition:

  • (a.) Of or pertaining to the people; belonging to the people; relating to, or affecting, a nation, state, or community; -- opposed to private; as, the public treasury.
  • (a.) Open to the knowledge or view of all; general; common; notorious; as, public report; public scandal.
  • (a.) Open to common or general use; as, a public road; a public house.
  • (n.) The general body of mankind, or of a nation, state, or community; the people, indefinitely; as, the American public; also, a particular body or aggregation of people; as, an author's public.
  • (n.) A public house; an inn.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) A former Labour minister, Nicholas Brown, said the public were frightened they "were going to be spied on" and that "illegally obtained" information would find its way to the public domain.
  • (2) For some time now, public opinion polls have revealed Americans' strong preference to live in comparatively small cities, towns, and rural areas rather than in large cities.
  • (3) Biden will meet with representatives from six gun groups on Thursday, including the NRA and the Independent Firearms Owners Association, which are both publicly opposed to stricter gun-control laws.
  • (4) Consensual but rationally weak criteria devised to extract inferences of causality from such results confirm the generic inadequacy of epidemiology in this area, and are unable to provide definitive scientific support to the perceived mandate for public health action.
  • (5) I said: ‘Apologies for doing this publicly, but I did try to get a meeting with you, and I couldn’t even get a reply.’ And then I had a massive go at him – about everything really, from poverty to uni fees to NHS waiting times.” She giggles again.
  • (6) The prospectus revealed he has an agreement with Dorsey to vote his shares, which expires when the company goes public in November.
  • (7) Whittingdale also defended the right of MPs to use privilege to speak out on public interest matters.
  • (8) 8.47pm: Cameron says he believes Britain's best days lie ahead and that he believes in public service.
  • (9) It is entirely proper for serving judges to set out the arguments in high-profile cases to help public understanding of the legal issues, as long as it is done in an even-handed way.
  • (10) A key way of regaining public trust will be reforming the system of remuneration as agreed by the G20.
  • (11) The last 10 years have seen increasing use of telephone surveys in public health research.
  • (12) They have actively intervened with governments, and particularly so in Africa.” José Luis Castro, president and chief executive officer of Vital Strategies, an organisation that promotes public health in developing countries, said: “The danger of tobacco is not an old story; it is the present.
  • (13) Neal’s evidence to the committee said Future Fund staff were not subject to the public service bargaining framework, which links any pay rise to productivity increases and caps rises at 1.5%.
  • (14) Fringe 2009 also welcomes back Aussie standup Jim Jeffries , whose jokes include: "Women to me are like public toilets.
  • (15) The fall of a tyrant is usually the cause of popular rejoicing followed by public vengeance.
  • (16) True, Syria subsequently disarmed itself of chemical weapons, but this was after the climbdown on bombing had shown western public opinion had no appetite for another war of choice.
  • (17) This is not an argument for the status quo: teaching must be given greater priority within HE, but the flipside has to be an understanding on the part of students, ministers, officials, the public and the media that academics (just like politicians) cannot make everyone happy all of the time.
  • (18) Eighty people, including the outspoken journalist Pravit Rojanaphruk from the Nation newspaper and the former education minister Chaturon Chaisaeng, who was publicly arrested on Tuesday, remain in detention.
  • (19) Chris Jefferies, who has been arrested in connection with the murder of landscape architect Joanna Yeates , was known as a flamboyant English teacher at Clifton College, a co-ed public school.
  • (20) They derive from publications of the National Insurance Institute for Occupational Accidents (INAIL) and refer to the Italian and Umbrian situation.