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

Supporters of the Lincoln Loop, including Shaw, also spoke at a public town hall meeting held in late April by the university’s design and construction management department. —Sacbee.com, 23 May 2026

At a town hall after the announcement, multiple questions were asked about layoffs but were dodged by leadership. —Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 23 May 2026

This proposal, which will next be discussed at a June 1 town hall, would place a temporary hold on zoning approval for data centers in these areas, along with battery energy storage systems (BESS) facilities. —Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 20 May 2026

The lawsuit requests the release of town hall video from the night of the encounter. —Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 19 May 2026

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