From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishspheresphere /sfɪə $ sfɪr/ ●●○ AWL noun [countable] 1 ROUNDa ball shape2 AREA OF KNOWLEDGE, DUTIES, STUDY ETCa particular area of activity, work, knowledge etcin the ... sphere television’s increasing role in the political spherepublic/private sphere Women have often been excluded from positions of power in the public sphere.3 → somebody’s/something’s sphere of influenceCOLLOCATIONS – Meaning 2: a particular area of activity, work, knowledge etcadjectivesthe public sphere (=public positions and activities)Men still controlled the public sphere.the private sphereAfter the war, women refused to return quietly to the private sphere.the political sphereUnions became more active in the political sphere.the economic sphereWill the reform programme be extended beyond the economic sphere? the domestic sphereMore women started to be trained for tasks outside the domestic sphere.the social sphereThe following chapter considers the influence of factors in the wider social sphere.
Examples from the Corpus
sphere• The volume of a sphere is equal to twice the square of its radius, multiplied by pi.• Mitchell's greatest achievements have been in the diplomatic sphere.• Officially, children no longer relegate women to some less valued domestic sphere.• Each sphere is thus in contact with eight other spheres.• Others disagree, and find the determinant factors in the economic sphere.• At the top of each column is a perfect sphere of white marble.• The public sphere can not be left entirely to the private marketplace.• Wars are waged, as ever, over real territory and real spheres of influence.• She has a good reputation in scientific spheres.• Cozy is a generous description of the inside of the sphere.• Thus the sphere of influence of Tyneside spreads far out into the surrounding countryside and along the coast.public/private sphere• In many respects it seemed that feminist aims regarding women's rights in the public sphere had been achieved.• In the public sphere, women must assume sufficient power to change the cultural imagery and the political landscape.• Women used their supposedly greater spirituality as a further justification for transcending the confines of the private sphere.• The cultural move from an autonomous and independent sculpture back to the public sphere inevitably raises the spectre of popular culture.• They were seen instead as being naturally subject to their husbands and necessarily confined to the private sphere.• Without undervaluing the private sphere itself, we can still say that this arrangement works to the advantage of men.• The public sphere can not be left entirely to the private marketplace.-sphere-sphere /sfɪə $ sfɪr/ suffix [in nouns] technical XXrelating to the air or gases surrounding the Earth the atmosphereOrigin sphere (1200-1300) Old French espere, from Latin sphaera, from Greek sphaira “ball, sphere” 