gallery

American  

[gal-uh-ree, gal-ree] / ˈgæl ə ri, ˈgæl ri /

noun

• galleries
  plural

1. a raised area, often having a stepped or sloping floor, in a theater, church, or other public building to accommodate spectators, exhibits, etc.

2. the uppermost of such areas in a theater, usually containing the cheapest seats.

3. the occupants of such an area in a theater.

4. the general public, especially when regarded as having popular or uncultivated tastes.

5. any group of spectators or observers, as at a golf match, a Congressional session, etc.

6. a room, series of rooms, or building devoted to the exhibition and often the sale of works of art.

7. a long covered area, narrow and open at one or both sides, used especially as a walk or corridor.

8. Chiefly South Atlantic States. a long porch or portico; veranda.

9. a long, relatively narrow room, especially one for public use.

10. a corridor, especially one having architectural importance through its scale or decorative treatment.

11. a raised, balconylike platform or passageway running along the exterior wall of a building inside or outside.

12. a large room or building used for photography, target practice, or other special purposes.

    a shooting gallery.

13. a collection of art for exhibition.

14. Theater. a narrow, raised platform located beyond the acting area, used by stagehands or technicians to stand on when working.

15. Nautical. a projecting balcony or structure on the quarter or stern of a vessel.

16. Furniture. an ornamental railing or cresting surrounding the top of a table, stand, desk, etc.

17. Mining. a level or drift.

18. a small tunnel in a dam, mine, or rock, for various purposes, as inspection or drainage.

19. a passageway made by an animal.

20. Fortification Obsolete. an underground or covered passage to another part of a fortified position.

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idioms

1. play to the gallery, to attempt to appeal to the popular taste, as opposed to a more refined or esoteric taste.

   Movies, though still playing mainly to the gallery, have taken their place as a significant art form.

gallery British  

/ ˈɡælərɪ /

noun

1. a room or building for exhibiting works of art

2. a covered passageway open on one side or on both sides See also colonnade

3. 1. a balcony running along or around the inside wall of a church, hall, etc

   2. a covered balcony, sometimes with columns on the outside

4. theatre

   1. an upper floor that projects from the rear over the main floor and contains the cheapest seats

   2. the seats there

   3. the audience seated there

5. a long narrow room, esp one used for a specific purpose

   a shooting gallery

6. a building or room where articles are sold at auction

7. an underground passage, as in a mine, the burrow of an animal, etc

8. theatre a narrow raised platform at the side or along the back of the stage for the use of technicians and stagehands

9. (in a TV studio) a glass-fronted soundproof room high up to one side of the studio looking into it. One gallery is used by the director and an assistant and one is for lighting, etc

10. nautical a balcony or platform at the quarter or stern of a ship, sometimes used as a gun emplacement

11. a small ornamental metal or wooden balustrade or railing on a piece of furniture, esp one surrounding the top of a desk, table, etc

12. any group of spectators, as at a golf match

13. to try to gain popular favour, esp by crude appeals

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gallery More Idioms  

1. see play to the gallery; rogues' gallery.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• galleried
  adjective
• gallerylike
  adjective
• ungalleried
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• galleries
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of gallery

1400–50; late Middle English < Old French galerie < Medieval Latin galeria, by dissimilation or suffix replacement from galilea, galilæa galilee

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Explanation

A gallery is an area of a building that's usually long, narrow, and has a specific function. You might visit an art gallery to check out a row of paintings hung on its walls. There are a few kinds of galleries, but the first is a part of a house or building that's unusually long and narrow. A gallery also has some sort of purpose: in a theater, a gallery is a place where additional seats are located. A gallery is also somewhere art is shown and sold. Art galleries can be one room of a larger place, a series of rooms, or a whole building devoted to art.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gallery galleries

The gallery was the first to hold public exhibitions on many subjects, from Chinese basket weaving to puppets and knots, but the curators wisely avoid covering every past show.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

Beard said she's looking to partner with a gallery in order to display her latest collection.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

Herman, a former professor in UCLA’s painting and drawing department and co-founder of the now-defunct Black Dragon Society gallery in Chinatown, lives with the work of his former students and friends crammed throughout his home.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

More than three decades later, images Smith took inside that hidden world are making another unlikely journey, from Bradford's underground daytimers scene to the Tate Britain art gallery.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

Since the museum I'd done a piece at a gallery and had another scheduled for the state university.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

Several European museums and galleries have seen major thefts in recent months.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

The River Arts District, a string of old warehouses along the French Broad River that artists turned into studios and galleries over decades, took some of the worst of the flooding.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

There’s also notable work to be found in the Presents section of the fair, which highlights young galleries showing solo- and dual-artist booths.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

“Rolywholyover” traveled to the Guggenheim in New York’s SoHo district the next year, and the young curator in charge was Michael Govan, LACMA’s visionary head behind the Zumthor galleries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

The more time spent in museums and galleries, the more rewarding the act of encountering art becomes.

From "The Annotated Mona Lisa" by Carol Strickland and John Boswell

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Related Words

• exhibit
• hall
• museum
• salon
• showroom
• studio

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