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

And The Northern Lights Tonight Start by creating open lines of communication, such as town hall meetings and employee engagement surveys, to find out what matters most to employees. —Holly Corbett, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024

SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk speaks during an America PAC town hall on October 26, 2024, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. —Jake Lahut, WIRED, 30 Oct. 2024

Throughout his numerous town halls in the state, Musk, who has over 200 million followers on his social media platform X, has also repeatedly pushed misinformation surrounding the election or previous election cycles. —Will Steakin, ABC News, 29 Oct. 2024

Big, traditional media still has its moments — presidential debates, town halls and sit-down interviews. —Axios, 28 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

town hall

noun

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