public enemy

collocation in English

meaningsofpublicandenemy

These words are often used together. Click on the links below to explore the meanings. Or,see other collocations withenemy.
public
adjective
uk
/ˈpʌb.lɪk/us
/ˈpʌb.lɪk/
relating to or involving people in general, rather than being limited to a particular group ...
See more atpublic
enemy
noun
uk
/ˈen.ə.mi/us
/ˈen.ə.mi/
a person who hates or opposes another person and tries to harm them or stop them from ...
See more atenemy

(Definition ofpublicandenemyfrom theCambridge English Dictionary© Cambridge University Press)

Examplesofpublic enemy

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
If the bandit had not become apublicenemy, it is unlikely that the growth of federal power in the twentieth century would have enjoyed domestic political legitimacy.
From theCambridge English Corpus
I am not sure that in this matter we are not pursuing the wrongpublicenemy, so to speak.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
Some people are trying to make out that this material ispublicenemynumber one.
FromEuroparl Parallel Corpus - English
The dog is man's best friend, but in some areas dogs are becomingpublicenemynumber one.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
That is that person'spublicenemynumber one.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
The words "private landlords"are pronounced sneeringly, as though they spelt"publicenemy".
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
The dog is herpublicenemynumber one.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
Poverty, the foremostpublicenemy, was forced to give more ground.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
I was horrified to hear the alleged description of general aviation as "publicenemynumber one".
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
There is no doubt that inflation ispublicenemynumber one, and if it is we have to fight it as such.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
They must all be reversed if we really intend to fight inflation aspublicenemynumber one.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
He suddenly stopped being flavour of the month and becamepublicenemynumber one.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
For us, inflation ispublicenemynumber one.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
Who do those people now regard aspublicenemynumber one?
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
He is therefore thepublicenemy.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
Sinatra is also critical of refined sugar, which he has calledpublicenemynumber one when it comes to heart disease, not cholesterol.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
He was later regarded as apublicenemy.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
It carries to its ultimate absurdity the fashion for romanticizing gangsters, for even in defeat thepublicenemyis endowed with grandeur.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
She had been accused of anti-patriotism and proclaimed a traitor, apublicenemyand a witch.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
Want to learn more?
Go to the definition ofpublic
Go to the definition ofenemy
See other collocations withenemy