city hall

American  

noun

(often initial capital letters)

• city halls
  plural

1. the administration building of a city government.

2. a city administration or government.

3. Informal. a bureaucracy or bureaucratic rules and regulations, especially that of a city government.

   You can't fight city hall.

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city hall British  

noun

1. the building housing the administrative offices of a city or municipal government

2. 1. municipal government

   2. the officials of a municipality collectively

3. informal bureaucracy

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• city halls
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of city hall

An Americanism dating back to 1665–75

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

city hall

Plus, a U.S.-China deal to reduce some tariffs, and making Chinese city hall weddings more glamorous amid a declining birthrate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

He recounted an incident in which he had been leaving city hall in July and collided with an e-bike shortly after his administration had discussed traffic restrictions in the city centre.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

Right-leaning Americans who had never been particularly civically engaged found themselves at city hall meetings or out in protests, furious about business closures and stay-at-home orders.

From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026

Following Saturday's raids, Ozel -- who is currently visiting the southern city of Adana -- urged party members to gather in solidarity in front of Cankaya city hall.

From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026

They waved and smiled and climbed aboard buses and were driven through narrow streets to Hamburg’s Rathaus, its old city hall.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

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Related Words

• town hall

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