1
: an alley used for pall-mall
2
[The Mall, promenade in London, originally a pall-mall alley]
a
: a usually public area often set with shade trees and designed as a promenade or as a pedestrian walk
b
: a usually paved or grassy strip between two roadways
3
a
: an urban shopping area featuring a variety of shops surrounding a usually open-air concourse reserved for pedestrian traffic
b
: a usually large suburban building or group of buildings containing various shops with associated passageways
Examples of mall in a Sentence
They spent the afternoon shopping at the mall.
the pedestrian traffic through the grassy mall is heaviest during the summer lunch hours
Recent Examples on the Web
These colourful and joyful spring flowers spanning multiple locations include streets, parks, malls, bridges, gardens, and railway stations.
—
Miriam Porter, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
The mall is working with the Naples Police Department as the agency investigates.
—Olivia Lloyd, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2025
The mall gets more visitors every year than Disneyland.
—Robert Petkoff Krish Seenivasan Quinton Kamara, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
Police said Phillips was struck by a bullet intended for someone Richards was arguing with in the mall’s parking.
—Silas Morgan, The Orlando Sentinel, 7 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mall
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Miriam Porter, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
The mall is working with the Naples Police Department as the agency investigates.
—Olivia Lloyd, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2025
The mall gets more visitors every year than Disneyland.
—Robert Petkoff Krish Seenivasan Quinton Kamara, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
Police said Phillips was struck by a bullet intended for someone Richards was arguing with in the mall’s parking.
—Silas Morgan, The Orlando Sentinel, 7 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mall
Cite this Entry
“Mall.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mall. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mall
noun1
: a shaded walk : promenade
2
: a usually paved or grassy strip between two roadways
3
a
: a group of stores and often restaurants arranged about an often covered way for pedestrians
b
: a usually large suburban building or group of buildings containing shops and often restaurants with connecting passageways
Etymology
a shortened form of pall-mall "a game similar to croquet formerly played in England," literally "ball-mallet"
Word Origin
In Italy in the 1500s a popular alley game similar to croquet was known as pallamaglio, from palla "ball," and maglio "mallet." The game (and word) was adopted by the French as pallemalle and in the 1600s by the English as pall-mall. The alley on which the game was played came to be known as a mall. One of the best known of these alleys, covered with sand and crushed shells, was located in London's St. James Park and was known as "The Mall." After the game lost favor, the Mall at St. James, as it continued to be called, was turned into a fashionable walkway with trees and flowers. Similar open-air places came to be called malls also. In the 20th century the word was applied to other public spaces, including the shopping complexes we now know as malls.
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