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

The announcement came during a WWE town hall meeting at the company's Stamford, Connecticut headquarters on January 29, where it was revealed that McMahon has been involved in the project, although few details were disclosed. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 30 Jan. 2025

This was certainly the case during the 2024 presidential race, when — with the exception of Kamala Harris (inadequately) answering one question about Long Covid during a Univision town hall — neither candidate addressed the condition in any meaningful way. —Elizabeth Yuko, Rolling Stone, 30 Jan. 2025

Trump toured Pacific Palisades then sat for a town hall with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and a bunch of other Democratic and Republican politicians — but not Newsom, who was not invited. —Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan. 2025

At a Brooklyn town hall Thursday night, State Education Department Commissioner Betty Rosa and Board of Regents Chancellor Lester Young expressed unease about the two major policy changes impacting public schools at the same time. —Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 24 Jan. 2025

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