mall

noun

ˈmȯl

especially British and for sense 1 ˈmal

Synonyms of mall next

: an alley used for pall-mall

[The Mall, promenade in London, originally a pall-mall alley]

: a usually public area often set with shade trees and designed as a promenade or as a pedestrian walk

: a usually paved or grassy strip between two roadways

: an urban shopping area featuring a variety of shops surrounding a usually open-air concourse reserved for pedestrian traffic

: a usually large suburban building or group of buildings containing various shops with associated passageways

Example Sentences

They spent the afternoon shopping at the mall. the pedestrian traffic through the grassy mall is heaviest during the summer lunch hours

Recent Examples on the Web Loss prevention officers called police just before 6:30 p.m. that day about a possible thief at the Nordstrom store in the mall, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. —

Nicole Acosta, Peoplemag, 24 Mar. 2023 The Fairfax County Police Department released body camera footage of the fatal police shooting of Timothy Johnson, 37, who allegedly stole a pair of sunglasses in a Northern Virginia mall. —

Pierre Thomas, ABC News, 24 Mar. 2023 Loss prevention officers at the mall notified Fairfax County police about a person stealing sunglasses from Nordstrom. —

Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 23 Mar. 2023 In-mall stores currently account for 35% of the brand's revenue, Business Insider reported. —

Elizabeth Napolitano, CBS News, 22 Mar. 2023 Not long ago, Dack was outside Granny’s Donuts, in a mini-mall in the small city of Downey, California. —

Dana Goodyear, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2023 The same report also alleged that Morant and his associates confronted a security guard in a mall following an incident involving his mother four days before the incident involving the teenager. —

oregonlive, 4 Mar. 2023 On Tuesday, the shooting took place outside the mall near Macy's. —

Elizabeth Pritchett, Fox News, 2 Mar. 2023 Then an Infected, woken by their night in the mall, attacks. —

Nick Romano, EW.com, 27 Feb. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mall.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

short for obsolete pall-mall mallet used in pall-mall

First Known Use

circa 1660, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of mall was circa 1660

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Mall.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mall. Accessed 31 Mar. 2023.

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Kids Definition

mall

noun

ˈmȯl

: a shaded walk : promenade

: a usually paved or grassy strip between two roadways

: a group of stores and often restaurants arranged about an often covered way for pedestrians

: a usually large suburban building or group of buildings containing shops and often restaurants with connecting passageways

Etymology

a shortened form of pall-mall "a game similar to croquet formerly played in England," literally "ball-mallet"

Word Origin

In Italy in the 1500s a popular alley game similar to croquet was known as pallamaglio, from palla "ball," and maglio "mallet." The game (and word) was adopted by the French as pallemalle and in the 1600s by the English as pall-mall. The alley on which the game was played came to be known as a mall. One of the best known of these alleys, covered with sand and crushed shells, was located in London's St. James Park and was known as "The Mall." After the game lost favor, the Mall at St. James, as it continued to be called, was turned into a fashionable walkway with trees and flowers. Similar open-air places came to be called malls also. In the 20th century the word was applied to other public spaces, including the shopping complexes we now know as malls.