town hall

plural town halls · alternative townhall

1. A building that houses the local government offices of a town.

   They enjoyed music from a live saxophonist during the journey before visiting Braintree Town Hall for refreshments and Christmas cake.

   2021 December 29, “Network News: Music train for dementia sufferers”, in RAIL, number 947, page 19

   1 more example

   Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show. He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

2. broadlyThe town council.

   Synonyms: burgh chambers, city hall, common hall, common house, townhouse

3. CanadaUSA widely accessible meeting, particularly where the audience is allowed to interact with the speakers.

   The president plans to speak to a town hall of employees at its headquarters on Monday.

   4 more examples

   " […] Sure, you can come down to City Hall when we have a Town Hall Meeting. Write to Maureen Connelly and she'll arrange it. […]"

   1978, Faith McNulty, “Talk of the Town”, in New Yorker

   And in just a few minutes, we'll bring you tonight's town hall debate from here at Washington University in Saint Louis.

   2004 October 8, Candidates Prepare for Second Presidential Debate, Paula Zahn (actor)

   The Form 2s are planning to host a town hall meeting with the women of Mara Moja and other local communities to teach the women more effective hygiene practices […]

   2012 May 3, “Daraja Girls Take Leadership Skills Acquired at the Academy to Their Communities During School Break”, in Daraja Academy, archived from the original on 24 Aug 2021

   That pushback from inside the administration was combined with rising public anger about the cuts that exploded at several lawmakers’ town halls in recent weeks.

   2025 March 7, Jonathan Lemire, “Is DOGE Losing Steam?”, in The Atlantic