OPEN CITY Definition & Meaning

open city

noun

a city that, during a war, is officially declared demilitarized and open to occupation, and that will consequently not be defended, in order to spare it, under international law, from bombardment or other military attack.
a city or autonomous city-state that gives equal access and status to inhabitants and visitors without regard to religious, ethnic, racial, or national affiliation.

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of open city¹

First recorded in 1910–15

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Bellingham was pivotal to Madrid’s opener with a moment of brilliance to open City up.

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Isabella Rossellini, who plays the mother of Arthur’s lost love in “La Chimera,” compares Rohrwacher to her father, the late auteur Roberto Rosselini of “Rome, Open City” and “Paisan,” among others.

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But when Padilla decided to run for Alarcon’s open City Council seat, Alarcon balked — Padilla was too young and inexperienced, he argued.

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Los Alamos became an open city when the security gates came down in 1957.

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His 2011 novel, “Open City,” made many readers hungry for his next, and “Tremor” is worth the wait.

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