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

Parents packed a town hall meeting in February, demanding school officials and the city of Fort Worth to kill the project citing concerns about human trafficking, drug dealing and prostitution. —Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Apr. 2024

Zeman then specifically asked Hepburn to add two more town hall meetings so that each of the seven districts in the county has one. —Jimena Tavel, Miami Herald, 23 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

town hall

noun

: a public building used for offices and meetings of town government