mall
Americannoun
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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.
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a large area, usually lined with shade trees and shrubbery, used as a public walk or promenade.
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Chiefly Upstate New York. a strip of land, usually planted or paved, separating lanes of opposite traffic on highways, boulevards, etc.
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the game of pall-mall.
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the mallet used in the game of pall-mall.
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the place or alley where pall-mall was played.
noun
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a shaded avenue, esp one that is open to the public
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short for shopping mall
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mall
1635–45; the Mall, a fashionable tree-lined promenade in 18th-century London, where originally the game pall-mall ( def. ) was played; see mell 2
Explanation
A mall is a large shopping center. If you want to spend your day buying clothes and eating in a food court, the mall is the place for you. Indoor malls are commonly several stories high, the different levels connected with escalators. There can be dozens or even hundreds of stores inside a mall, along with places to eat, drink, and rest, and often to watch movies, play video games, or even ride on a carousel. Outdoor malls are either organized like old-fashioned downtown areas, with trees and sidewalks, or just a row of shops with a large parking lot — also called a "strip mall."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Crews are putting finishing touches on mall buildings after tearing them down to the studs, treating the wood and rebuilding the walls, Caruso said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
He also hopes many will be inspired to visit the revived mall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Unlike in previous years, when residents could bring coolers and picnics to the mall, guests this year will go through security and are allowed to bring only one small clear bag.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
The fireworks are scheduled to last 35 minutes, about twice the length of a traditional July Fourth fireworks show on the mall, according to Freedom 250.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
Then I hear my phone ding—it’s a group message from Imani and Heather, asking if I want to meet them at the mall on Saturday.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
The aggressive real estate blitz signals a bold shift for a brand traditionally associated with suburban strip malls and lower-end consumers.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Even beyond the supermarket, it was common to use checks at malls, big-box stores or gas stations until the early 2000s, when they were ultimately upstaged by credit and debit cards.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
The long-vacant site has become a magnet for so-called urban explorers, who prowl abandoned malls, hospitals, power plants, amusement parks, factories and any other disused structure they can breach.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
There are dive bar mimosas, strip malls, grocery aisles and cheap canned noodles.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
He didn’t like shopping malls, but he appreciated that Garrett was trying to be friendly.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
