dining hall

American  

noun

• dining halls
  plural

1. a large room in which meals are served to members of a special group and their guests, as to the students and faculty of a college.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• dining halls
  plural

Etymology

Origin of dining hall

First recorded in 1660–70

Explanation

A dining-hall is a large space where many people eat at the same time. If you go to college and live in a dormitory, you'll probably eat most of your meals in a dining-hall. You can use the word dining-hall when you're talking about a cafeteria or another group space for eating. You'll find dining-halls at universities, camps. and boarding schools. The word hall. a long room, comes from the Old English root heall, "spacious roofed residence," and dining is rooted in the Old French disner, "to have a meal."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dining hall

At lunchtime, the prisoners in navy overalls file into the dining hall with heads bowed and hands clasped behind their backs.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

The dining hall is a perfect example: The student’s economic background is invisible as everyone eats from the same options available in the food court.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

AFSCME’s members include custodians, gardeners, dining hall food service staff, transportation workers and skilled craft workers such as plumbers and electricians.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026

“In most CCRCs, when you go down to the dining hall, half the people have walkers or canes. In the promotional literature, you don’t see that at all,” Horowitz said.

From MarketWatch ● May 8, 2026

They took place at breakfast, in the dining hall, over bowls of hot porridge.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

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