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

Is this literally a town hall dance competition? —Radhika Seth, Vogue, 6 Feb. 2026

Thursday’s town hall was advertised as an opportunity for residents to voice their concerns on the project. —Charlotte Observer, 6 Feb. 2026

Asked about fundraising during a mid-January Single Payer Coalition town hall focused on health care, Peters touted the small donations his campaign has received before taking a jab at Jackson’s past misuse of campaign funds. —Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 6 Feb. 2026

Sunday church bulletins this week included a notice of three upcoming town hall meetings that would be held in February to explain the merger process, discuss how the churches and schools might be affected and field questions from parishioners. —Dan Horn, Cincinnati Enquirer, 5 Feb. 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