gallery

American  

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

noun

plural

galleries

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

• galleried adjective
• gallerylike adjective
• ungalleried adjective

Etymology

Origin of gallery

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

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

Within the three-day festival is an immersive gallery staged over two weekends in April at Indio’s Empire Polo Club.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

One shop owner says he took just £4 in a week, while an artist closed the doors on his high street gallery last week because of business rates.

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026

"Lower business rates is what the next government need to do, that's reason I had to close my gallery," the 69-year-old says.

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026

Sutton says that she’s heard through the gallery grapevine that “even galleries that haven’t closed are struggling,” adding that “it’s a hard time for everybody.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026

From his office, Henry Duveen, an owner of the gallery, could hear the man arguing with an assistant.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

Related Words

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