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

Other Protests at the Local Level Saturday's town hall protest comes after constituents in Oklahoma's 1st Congressional District on Thursday pressed Republican Representative Kevin Hern about federal job cuts and their concerns about Musk. —Mark Joseph, Newsweek, 24 Feb. 2025

Property taxes, education and the Illinois secession bill were major concerns for local legislators and about two dozen people who gathered Saturday in Portage for the first of three town halls Pol held at the midway point of the 2025 legislative session. —Alexandra Kukulka, Chicago Tribune, 24 Feb. 2025

Republicans are facing angry voters at town halls, hinting at a broader backlash. —Dionne Searcey, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2025

The congressman will continue to host town halls over the phone, Reed replied. —Jenavieve Hatch, Sacramento Bee, 22 Feb. 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