1
: an alley used for pall-mall
2
[The Mall, promenade in London, originally a pall-mall alley]
a
: a usually public area often set with shade trees and designed as a promenade or as a pedestrian walk
b
: a usually paved or grassy strip between two roadways
3
a
: an urban shopping area featuring a variety of shops surrounding a usually open-air concourse reserved for pedestrian traffic
b
: a usually large suburban building or group of buildings containing various shops with associated passageways
Examples of mall in a Sentence
They spent the afternoon shopping at the mall.
the pedestrian traffic through the grassy mall is heaviest during the summer lunch hours
Recent Examples on the Web
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, is accused of targeting the group at a pedestrian mall with Molotov cocktails and a makeshift flamethrower on June 1, according to a criminal complaint.
—
Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 7 June 2025
In the decade before HIV treatment became widely available, the quilt returned to the mall nearly every year, forcing the country to reckon with the sheer number of lives lost to AIDS.
—Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 7 June 2025
The mall had also switched ownership multiple times prior to Ardent’s purchase.
—Tyler Williams, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 June 2025
Multiple blocks of the pedestrian mall area were evacuated by police.
—Colleen Slevin, Los Angeles Times, 2 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for mall
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Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 7 June 2025
In the decade before HIV treatment became widely available, the quilt returned to the mall nearly every year, forcing the country to reckon with the sheer number of lives lost to AIDS.
—Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 7 June 2025
The mall had also switched ownership multiple times prior to Ardent’s purchase.
—Tyler Williams, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 June 2025
Multiple blocks of the pedestrian mall area were evacuated by police.
—Colleen Slevin, Los Angeles Times, 2 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for mall
Cite this Entry
“Mall.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mall. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mall
noun1
: a shaded walk : promenade
2
: a usually paved or grassy strip between two roadways
3
a
: a group of stores and often restaurants arranged about an often covered way for pedestrians
b
: a usually large suburban building or group of buildings containing shops and often restaurants with connecting passageways
Etymology
a shortened form of pall-mall "a game similar to croquet formerly played in England," literally "ball-mallet"
Word Origin
In Italy in the 1500s a popular alley game similar to croquet was known as pallamaglio, from palla "ball," and maglio "mallet." The game (and word) was adopted by the French as pallemalle and in the 1600s by the English as pall-mall. The alley on which the game was played came to be known as a mall. One of the best known of these alleys, covered with sand and crushed shells, was located in London's St. James Park and was known as "The Mall." After the game lost favor, the Mall at St. James, as it continued to be called, was turned into a fashionable walkway with trees and flowers. Similar open-air places came to be called malls also. In the 20th century the word was applied to other public spaces, including the shopping complexes we now know as malls.
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