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 congressman challenged Newsom to a debate, proposing holding town halls and talking to voters about this issue. — Juhi Doshi, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026

No town halls for 18 months In recent years, Marshall has drawn criticism for avoiding holding public appearances to hear constituents. — Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 1 Oct. 2026

Ginestra is frequently with Calvo at press conferences, council meetings, town halls, ribbon-cutting ceremonies and other public events. — Verónica Egui Brito, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026

Nick Offerman lifted the veil off the 2026 participants during a UTA company-wide town hall. — Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 29 Sep. 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