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Synonyms

mess hall

American  

noun

  1. a place in which a group eats regularly, especially a dining hall in a military camp, post, etc.


mess hall British  

noun

  1. a military dining room, usually large

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of mess hall

First recorded in 1860–65

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:

Another photo showed a grinning Kim sitting with Ju Ae at a table in the ship's mess hall, surrounded by uniformed marines eating instant rice meals.

From Barron's May 8, 2026

“But by the time we got those, the only set we had left to build was the mess hall that you walked into, which was part of the zoo lab,” said production designer Andy Nicholson.

From Salon Jul. 17, 2025

Recently, I saw Denis in the mess hall and asked him one last question that had been gnawing at the back of my mind.

From Slate May 19, 2025

Images circulating on social media appear to show an empty mess hall with a hole in the roof.

From BBC Oct. 13, 2024

An open doorway revealed a large mess hall, where many of the guards were just sitting down to breakfast.

From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas

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