dining hall

American  

noun

1. a large room in which meals are served to members of a special group and their guests, as to the students and faculty of a college.

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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."

Example Sentences

On a recent evening, Pike walked through the half-filled dining hall near his dorm.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

Its stitched-together scenes—frat pledge party, dining hall food fight, toga party, horse in Dean Wormer’s office, homecoming parade—were individually hilarious and held together only by the individual characters.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

That complaint alleged that a dining hall worker wearing gloves used a broom and dustpan to sweep and then made scrambled eggs with the same gloves on, according to the report.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2025

A decorative plate stolen from a dining hall by a University of Cambridge student more than 100 years ago has finally been returned.

From BBC • Nov. 11, 2025

Through the next glass pyramid, he glimpsed a big dining hall.

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

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