town hall

noun

1

: a public building used for town-government offices and meetings

2

: an event at which a public official or political candidate addresses an audience by answering questions posed by individual members

Town halls have lost some of their spontaneity. The 80 or so undecided voters chosen for Tuesday's event must submit their questions in advance and moderator Candy Crowley of CNN will decide which people to call on.

—Connie Cass

Examples of town hall in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Democrats have taken to holding town halls in GOP districts and rallies in the nation’s capital to push back against Trump’s sweeping executive actions seeking to reduce government spending and implement mass layoffs across the federal civilian workforce. —The Hill Staff, The Hill, 1 Apr. 2025

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has faced calls for primary challengers and protests outside his home for voting with Republicans to keep the government open, and constituents have yelled at Democratic members at town halls to be more forceful in speaking up against Trump. —Riley Beggin, USA Today, 1 Apr. 2025

Constituents at town halls frequently ask what the state can do to better fund education or roads, Zokaie said — and for Zokaie, the answer is that TABOR means the state can’t. —Seth Klamann, Denver Post, 1 Apr. 2025

The war room will serve as a central hub for Senate Democrats to plan messaging, create content, provide oversight, make field visits and host town halls to pummel the GOP on the issue. —Stephen Neukam, Axios, 31 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for town hall

• aldol
• armhole
• atoll
• awol
• backhaul
• banal
• baseball
• befall
• cabal
• catchall
• cecal
• centrale

Kids Definition

town hall

noun

: a public building used for offices and meetings of town government