mall

[mawl, mal]

noun

1. Also called shopping mall. a large retail complex containing a variety of stores and often restaurants and other business establishments housed in a series of connected or adjacent buildings or in a single large building.

2. a large area, usually lined with shade trees and shrubbery, used as a public walk or promenade.

3. Chiefly Upstate New York.,  a strip of land, usually planted or paved, separating lanes of opposite traffic on highways, boulevards, etc.

4. the game of pall-mall.

5. the mallet used in the game of pall-mall.

6. the place or alley where pall-mall was played.

mall

/ mɔːl, mæl /

noun

1. a shaded avenue, esp one that is open to the public

2. short for shopping mall

Word History and Origins

Origin of mall¹

1635–45; the Mall, a fashionable tree-lined promenade in 18th-century London, where originally the game pall-mall ( def. ) was played; mell ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of mall¹

C17: after The Mall, in St James's Park, London. See _pall-mall

Example Sentences

Of course, for many shoppers on Friday, the pilgrimage to splurge at the local mall was about more than saving.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Fifteen-year-old American YouTuber Salish Matter unveiled her brand Sincerely Yours in October, drawing tens of thousands of people -- and police reinforcements -- to a launch event at a New Jersey mall.

Read more on Barron's

So, this Friday, even though I don’t actually need anything, I’m going to hustle over to the mall to participate in the most beloved American ritual of all.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Volunteers distributed clothes and lunch boxes at the open-air podium of a nearby mall, while a few people gave out flyers with information about missing people.

Read more on Barron's

New interactive kiosks will help promote its scents in malls and train stations.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• market 
• plaza 
• shopping center 
• shopping mall