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

Her new position at SXSW was announced during a town hall meeting on April 25. —Adam B. Vary, Variety, 1 May 2025

President Trump on Wednesday called in to NewsNation for a town hall program marking the 100-day milestone of his second term in the Oval Office. —Julia Mueller, The Hill, 1 May 2025

Tens of thousands of dollars in artwork may have ended up in the trash during a town hall renovation in the Netherlands. —Lillian Ali, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Apr. 2025

This was a deviation from what happens in The Last of Us Part II video game, in which there is no town hall vote. —Megan McCluskey, Time, 28 Apr. 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