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

Netflix has been taking steps to diversify its business into new areas, such as video games and even mall locations where it can create immersive experiences with fans.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Now, swathes of the historic San Fernando Valley mall are being demolished, after years of complaints from neighbors that the collection of vacant buildings and parking lots had fallen into disrepair.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Can it be Seafood Shanty, tucked into a sprawling mall in Southeast Pennsylvania?

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Some clothing stores in shopping malls and wholesale vendors have switched their stock to sombre hues, seeking to capitalise on the nation's grief.

Read more on Barron's

Singapore is known for its malls and skyscrapers.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• market 
• plaza 
• shopping center 
• shopping mall