pub
noun
a bar or tavern.
pub
1 American
[puhb]
/ pʌb /
noun
pub.
2
American
abbreviation
-
public.
-
publication.
-
published.
-
publisher.
-
publishing.
pub.
1
British
abbreviation
-
public
-
publication
-
published
-
publisher
-
publishing
pub
2
British
/ pʌb /
noun
-
Formal name: public house. a building with a bar and one or more public rooms licensed for the sale and consumption of alcoholic drink, often also providing light meals
-
a hotel
verb
Etymology
Origin of pub
First recorded in 1855–60; short for public house
Explanation
A pub is a bar or tavern that serves food and often acts as a community gathering place. People visit pubs to eat lunch, to drink beer, or to play darts with their friends. Pub is a shortened form of public house that dates from 1859. In the sixteenth century, a public house was first "any building open to the public," and then "an inn that sells food and drink." Today, the word pub is more or less synonymous with tavern — both are primarily places to drink beer, wine, or spirits, though a pub (especially in Great Britain) is seen as vital to its neighborhood, a cozy place to gather.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"I think the Knicks have just taken away a lot of the excitement right now," said Vanessa Whalen, owner of an English-style pub in Brooklyn, the Black Bull.
From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026
Smithfield Hall, a Chelsea pub with a long wooden bar and walls draped in club flags, also plans to show every match on its 33 screens.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
It opens in a London pub, where Rodrigo is besotted by a boy who "looks like an angel on the walls of Versailles".
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
Reacting to the post, former BBC Radio 2 host Zoe Ball wrote: "You're going to need a bigger pub" - a reference to one of Spielberg's most famous films, Jaws.
From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026
One was very tall and thin; squinting through his rain-washed glasses Harry recognized the barman who worked in the other Hogsmeade pub, the Hog’s Head.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
