How to Use public works in a Sentence

public works

plural noun
  • Her body had been found in the woods off a dirt path by a public works crew.
    — Colleen Cronin, Boston Herald, 4 Mar. 2026
  • The firm had been working on public works projects across the state.
    — Emily Brindley, courant.com, 27 Nov. 2019
  • Both have their public works and emergency crews ready to go.
    — Madeline Bartos, CBS News, 23 Jan. 2026
  • Cities have so much to do with maintaining roads and parks and public works.
    — Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Oc Register, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Gove said public works crews will be working to clear snow in the coming days.
    — Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 24 Feb. 2026
  • The lease and closing date still need to be approved by the state board of public works.
    — Tara Lynch, CBS News, 18 Dec. 2025
  • By some measures, the border wall is the biggest public works project in decades.
    — Richard Laugharn, National Geographic, 2 Nov. 2020
  • One of these was to build great public works—most notably, the bridge to Sicily.
    — Gisela Salim-Peyer, The Atlantic, 11 Dec. 2023
  • Projects beyond their skills are completed by public works teams.
    — Erika I. Ritchie, Oc Register, 23 Sep. 2025
  • Artists can go further still, turning public works against themselves.
    — Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
  • The public works department has added a machine that turns and aerates the leaf pile.
    — Peter Marteka, courant.com, 9 Sep. 2019
  • Town officials said that public works crews are cleaning up such messes two to three times a week.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 28 Nov. 2019
  • But these are the kinds of public works that, in other forms, win progressive approval.
    — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 22 July 2024
  • Still, Biden is counting on the fact that public works projects are popular back home.
    — NBC News, 4 Apr. 2021
  • The city has also recently added a new public works building thanks.
    — Karoline Leonard, Austin American Statesman, 17 Nov. 2025
  • Most of the city’s budget goes for police, fire protection and public works.
    — Steve Sadin, chicagotribune.com, 25 Aug. 2020
  • Harry, 33, has put the benefits of sports at the heart of his public work.
    — Simon Perry, PEOPLE.com, 11 July 2018
  • That’s been the record of public works projects dating back to the 19th century.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2021
  • Self said that the police department called public works to have the pride display removed.
    — Elle Meyers, CBS News, 15 June 2026
  • The unemployed would be put to work in slum clearance, road building and other public works projects.
    — Michael Bernick, Forbes, 19 July 2022
  • Gresch said the town's department of public works has already changed the sign to enforce the speed limit.
    — Cathy Kozlowicz, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 19 Aug. 2019
  • Bill Worth sent us a question last week about the city’s public works priorities.
    — John Thompson, ajc, 11 July 2020
  • For Davis, that means public works has to prioritize the repairs that could cause the most harm.
    — Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 7 Apr. 2026
  • Ten of these have advanced into phase 3, which tests whether the dose that would be given to the public works safely.
    — Joseph Walker, WSJ, 24 Oct. 2020
  • Some maintenance workers would shift to the parks department and some to public works.
    — Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 1 Mar. 2026
  • The signs, which were created in the city’s public works sign shop, will remain up through the pandemic.
    — John Benson, cleveland, 29 Apr. 2020
  • Cops arrived to get the small dog out of the pipes with help from the city’s fire department and public works department.
    — Joe Mario Pedersen, orlandosentinel.com, 9 Aug. 2019
  • So far, none has substantially changed the framework of the public works package.
    — Lisa Mascaro, chicagotribune.com, 7 Aug. 2021
  • Residents rake leaves into the street and village public works staff push the leaves into large piles at the end of the block.
    — Steve Schering, chicagotribune.com, 4 Aug. 2020
  • Roads around much of the city are still slick from ice, said public works director Ali Hatefi.
    — Dallas News, 1 Feb. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'public works.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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