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

Autumn Hill will hold a town hall meeting to answer families' questions. —Alec Johnson, jsonline.com, 9 Aug. 2025

Two days after the board meeting, parents held a town hall meeting in the school’s auditorium. —Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 Aug. 2025

As the public face of the company, the CEO should be media trained and prepared to engage confidently and authentically in a variety of settings—press interviews, speaking engagements, town hall meetings, earnings calls and investor meetings—and in crisis situations. —Moira Conlon, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2025

The displays caused House Republicans to cut back on town halls. —Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 5 Aug. 2025

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