mall

noun

ˈmȯl 

 especially British and for sense 1  ˈmal

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

Synonyms

• boardwalk
• promenade
• walk

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

The resale business is hot and changing the way people shop July 13, 2023 The Promenade, like most malls, had a surge of success from the mid-1990s until the 2010s. —Carly Olson, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2023

Demolition of the 57-year-old mall will take place to make room for the $300-million Belle Oaks mixed-use development that is to include 800 high-quality apartment units, retail space and amenities. —cleveland, 8 Sep. 2023

The bustling Diamond Jamboree mall in Irvine, California, by contrast, has no vacancies, leasing manager Helen Wang said. —Claire Wang, NBC News, 8 Sep. 2023

The exhibition was at the mall through early May, and some of the pieces are being stored there, Ramirez said, while others are now on display at the International Museum of Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. —Mike Danahey, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2023

Shopping mall operator Westfield gave up control of its San Francisco Centre mall in June. —Samantha Delouya, CNN, 30 Aug. 2023

Nordstrom’s San Francisco flagship, which for decades occupied crucial real estate at the San Francisco Centre mall on Market Street, closed its doors Sunday. —oregonlive, 30 Aug. 2023

Some of the changes at malls across the U.S. Austin, Texas. —Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 29 Aug. 2023

On Saturday, Alexander led an acting workshop for young, aspiring actors at the Flagstaff mall. —Elena Santa Cruz, The Arizona Republic, 29 Aug. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

short for obsolete pall-mall mallet used in pall-mall

First Known Use

circa 1660, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing mall

• shopping mall
• pall-mall
• strip mall

• shopping mall
• pall-mall
• strip mall

Kids Definition

mall

noun

ˈmȯl 

1

: 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.