mall

American  

[mawl, mal] / mɔl, mæl /

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.

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mall British  

/ mɔːl, mæl /

noun

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

2. short for shopping mall

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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; mell ²

Example Sentences

Footage posted on social media showed protests Monday at an upmarket mall near Tehran’s sprawling bazaar.

From The Wall Street Journal

Ahead of the bomb’s removal, the site, which is near a residential area and a shopping mall, underwent detailed reconnaissance "to ensure safe conditions," police said.

From Barron's

A tornado did, in fact, spin through Los Angeles on Christmas, the National Weather Service confirmed, damaging a home and a commercial strip mall.

From Los Angeles Times

But unlike some shoppers at the mall in Torrance, Hampton didn’t mind any of this one bit.

From Los Angeles Times

But unlike some shoppers at the mall, Hampton didn’t mind any of this one bit.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• market
• plaza
• shopping center
• shopping mall