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

Early this spring, a town hall was held at an elementary school at Point Reyes Station. — Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2026

Residents packed a town hall event to protest the new Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park being built on the former South Works steel site. — Cbs Chicago Team, CBS News, 15 Aug. 2026

Joshua Taflinger, who has lived in Rocky Ripple for 20 years, was standing outside town hall on Saturday morning. — Tilly Robinson, IndyStar, 15 Aug. 2026

The Jaws reference pops up again during one of Tom’s town hall staff meetings. — Antonia Blyth, Deadline, 14 Aug. 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