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

Kazmierczak appeared to charge at Omar during a public town hall in Minneapolis on Tuesday and allegedly tried to spray a syringe filled with a liquid substance at her, which law enforcement sources later suggested was apple cider vinegar, before being tackled to the ground. —Alison Durkee, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026

Mayor Frey watched a video of a prior altercation between Alex Pretti and federal immigration agents for the first time during Wednesday night’s town hall. —Alexandra Banner, CNN Money, 29 Jan. 2026

Omar was hosting a town hall event in North Minneapolis on Tuesday evening when a man in a black jacket rushed toward the podium and sprayed her with a liquid. —Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 28 Jan. 2026

Lawmakers have discussed the effect of the threatening political climate on their ability to hold town halls and public events, with some even citing it in their decisions not to seek reelection. —Michael Biesecker, Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan. 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