dining hall
Americannoun
-
dining halls
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of dining hall
First recorded in 1660–70
Explanation
A dining-hall is a large space where many people eat at the same time. If you go to college and live in a dormitory, you'll probably eat most of your meals in a dining-hall. You can use the word dining-hall when you're talking about a cafeteria or another group space for eating. You'll find dining-halls at universities, camps. and boarding schools. The word hall. a long room, comes from the Old English root heall, "spacious roofed residence," and dining is rooted in the Old French disner, "to have a meal."
Vocabulary lists containing dining-hall
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.
At lunchtime, the prisoners in navy overalls file into the dining hall with heads bowed and hands clasped behind their backs.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
The dining hall is a perfect example: The student’s economic background is invisible as everyone eats from the same options available in the food court.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
“In most CCRCs, when you go down to the dining hall, half the people have walkers or canes. In the promotional literature, you don’t see that at all,” Horowitz said.
From MarketWatch ● May 8, 2026
On a recent evening, Pike walked through the half-filled dining hall near his dorm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
The dining hall had turned into a free-for-all of chaos.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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.
