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

The district also held a town hall meeting with Sheriff Paul Miyamoto to address community concerns. —Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2024

Unlike a town hall that dictates a time and place, the Garage Gab is requested by a citizen and held at their location at a time convenient to them. —Rick Mauch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 May 2024

The city hasn’t collected much concrete data, according to Mayor Thomas Wong, who was born and raised in Monterey Park and who says the migrant issue has not come up at his town hall meetings. —Melanie Stetson Freeman, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 May 2024

The report prompted a December town hall where residents called on the state to block the renewal of CSX’s license to run a coal terminal in the neighborhood. —Dillon Mullan, Baltimore Sun, 23 Apr. 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