food court

American  

noun

• food courts
  plural

1. a space, as in a shopping mall, with a concentration of fast-food stalls and usually a common eating area.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• food courts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of food court

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

food court

Halfway through the game, police in Bogotá responded to noise complaints from residents in the apartments around the food court and ordered the operators to turn off the screens they had mounted.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026

What was once a simple food court has been transformed into a loud nook stuffed with a “Big Hero 6” meet-and-greet and gift shop.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2026

Seek out longstanding institutions like Tunday Kababi, Raheem’s Kulcha Nihari and Ram Asrey, but also explore newer restaurants in the Hazratganj district and the recently opened Food Valley, the country’s largest outdoor food court.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 20, 2025

In the food court, two freshmen debated whether the university had overreacted with the new police patrols and K-9 unit.

From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2025

I saw some kids I knew in the food court and hung out with them.

From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter