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 plan called for the demolition of the old town hall, but that also stalled when the interlocal plan fell apart. —Carole Carlson, Chicago Tribune, 13 Mar. 2026

However, in the mirror universe, these Actors-on-Actors town halls have been appointment viewing ever since Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon promoted The Departed together in 2007 and got into a shouting match over Wahlberg’s accusation that Damon had never drank a Dunkin’ coffee in his life. —Joe Reid, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2026

More recently, the actor has been taken to task for remarks made at a town hall hosted by CNN and Variety in February. —Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2026

Chalamet found himself at the center of a firestorm recently when clips resurfaced from his live conversation with Matthew McConaughey during a Variety and CNN town hall last month. —Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 12 Mar. 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