booth

¹ American  

[booth] / buθ /

noun

plural

booths

1. a stall, compartment, or light structure for the sale of goods or for display purposes, as at a market, exhibition, or fair.

2. a small compartment or boxlike room for a specific use by one occupant.

   The customs officer came out of his booth as we drove up.

   There aren’t many telephone booths around anymore.

3. a small, temporary structure used by voters at elections.

4. a partly enclosed compartment or partitioned area, as in a restaurant or music store, equipped for a specific use by one or more persons.

5. a temporary structure of any material, as boughs, canvas, or boards, used especially for shelter; shed.

---

Booth ² American  

[booth, booth] / buθ, buð /

noun

1. Ballington 1859–1940, founder of the Volunteers of America 1896 (son of William Booth).

2. Edwin Thomas, 1833–93, U.S. actor (brother of John Wilkes Booth).

3. Evangeline Cory 1865?–1950, general of the Salvation Army 1934–39 (daughter of William Booth).

4. John Wilkes, 1838–65, U.S. actor: assassin of Abraham Lincoln (brother of Edwin Thomas Booth).

5. Junius Brutus, 1796–1852, English actor (father of Edwin and John Booth).

6. William General Booth, 1829–1912, English religious leader: founder of the Salvation Army 1865.

7. William Bramwell 1856–1929, general of the Salvation Army (son of William Booth).

8. a male given name.

---

Booth ¹ British  

/ buːð /

noun

1. Edwin Thomas , son of Junius Brutus Booth. 1833–93, US actor

2. John Wilkes , son of Junius Brutus Booth. 1838–65, US actor; assassin of Abraham Lincoln

3. Junius Brutus (ˈdʒuːnɪəs ˈbruːtəs). 1796–1852, US actor, born in England

4. William . 1829–1912, British religious leader; founder and first general of the Salvation Army (1878)

---

booth ² British  

/ buːð, buːθ /

noun

1. a stall for the display or sale of goods, esp a temporary one at a fair or market

2. a small enclosed or partially enclosed room or cubicle, such as one containing a telephone ( telephone booth ) or one in which a person casts his or her vote at an election ( polling booth )

3. two long high-backed benches with a long table between, used esp in bars and inexpensive restaurants

4. (formerly) a temporary structure for shelter, dwelling, storage, etc

---

Etymology

Origin of booth

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English bōthe, from Old Norse būth (compare Old Danish bōth booth); cognate with German Bude

Explanation

A booth is a temporary table, tent, or area that you set up in order to sell something. You might have a cupcake booth at a school craft fair, for example. You might stop at an information booth in a tourist town, or or shop for records at a music booth in your local flea market. You can use the noun booth for any small, impermanent stall, kiosk, or stand. Another kind of booth is the cozy, private seating area at a restaurant that often has high walls and benches around a table. Booth has an Old Norse origin, the word buth, which is rooted in búa, or "dwell."

Example Sentences

Whatever happens next, the precedent of a toll booth in open waters will reverberate across a world order the U.S. helped build.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

Nestling into a corner booth with the trio felt like sitting with the cool kids you’d only ever watched from afar.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

Meanwhile, oil is comfortably north of $100 a barrel, with an Iranian toll booth on the Strait of Hormuz.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 6, 2026

The doctor who ran the booth where the women became ill said he didn’t believe that the peptides caused their reactions but apologized for the incident and said he would review his practices.

From Salon • Apr. 4, 2026

Mom was behind the counter, and Jess and the twins were at a booth, munching on French fries and trying to focus on their homework.

From "I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens, 1980" by Lauren Tarshis

Related Words

• box
• corner
• counter
• cubicle
• hut
• pew
• stall