town hall
14
1.5
- noun
- /taʊn hɔl/
:
ayuntamiento
- We have to go to the town hall to get my mother.
- early town halls
This clip should be played at a rally at a town hall and then have Kamala and her surrogates respond.
- This clip should be played at a rally at a town hall and then have Kamala and her surrogates respond.
- We run Newcastle Town Hall once and we're doing this song Wildlife.
Examples
-
We attended a town hall meeting to discuss the new city regulations.
-
I'm on my way to town hall for the permit!
Fiction book (1998) -
Now, go over to the town hall and see what they say.
-
Well, what do you think about me asking the town hall to use their space?
-
To attend a town hall meeting, he needs to get someone to cover his shift.
Blog text (25) -
On one side of the square was a town hall of gray Gothic stone.
Fiction book (1992) -
She was at The town hall meeting.
-
We must present our case at the council meeting at the town hall on Friday 1 3th.
-
The Selective Service office is in the town hall, that far wing, the new wing with a separate entrance.
Fiction book (1990) -
Behind the town hall was a neat little house where the mayor lived with her Siamese cat.
Fiction book (1992)
Synonyms
34
2.2
A building where the mayor and main city government offices are
30
2.3
A building where government offices are
A building where local government works and holds public meetings
How Important
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a public meeting or forum' is directly compositional from 'town' (local community) + 'hall' (a room or building for gatherings): a hall associated with the town where people meet. This noun-noun combination is a common, cross-linguistic pattern (e.g., 'town-hall meeting') so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Town hall: The noun town hall comes from the old practice of having a large hall in the town where local leaders met, kept records, and did official work. So, town hall came to mean the building used for the town's 'government'.