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

According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Hermen Hulst, who heads up PlayStation’s studios business, informed employees in a town hall on Monday about the change in strategy. —Jay Peters, The Verge, 18 May 2026

Democratic Assemblyman and 12th Congressional District candidate Alex Bores speaks during a town hall event at Rise Bar in New York City on April 16, 2026. —Marcia Kramer, CBS News, 17 May 2026

The latest example of burgeoning opposition to rapid data-center development in Pennsylvania came at a town hall meeting overflowing with frustration about how the state is managing the surge. —ArsTechnica, 15 May 2026

Fourth, hold routine town halls across the state. —Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 May 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