mall

[ mawl; British also 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. Compare shopping center.
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

There, most parcels are likely to be occupied by a strip mall or office building, but some apartments exist in commercial zones as well.

From Los Angeles Times

Last month, we travelled to a shopping mall in Shanghai where a man had randomly stabbed strangers to death.

From BBC

Then, I moved to Honolulu and started working at this giant mall there called Ala Moana.

From Los Angeles Times

Two men in luxury cars were targeted by robbers at the Fashion Island mall and one sustained minor injuries when he sped away, police said.

From Los Angeles Times

A squabble had broken out a few hours earlier over line position, store manager Henry Nguyen said, and mall security stepped in to restore order.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• market
• plaza
• shopping center
• shopping mall