mall

mall — noun

1. a place where many different shops, restaurants, and entertainment facilities su

1.nounB1
Definition

a place where many different shops, restaurants, and entertainment facilities such as cinemas are located together inside one large building or a connected set of buildings, with walkways that cars cannot use.

Example

Iris and her friends spent Saturday afternoon walking around the mall and trying on clothes.

collocation: spend + time at the mall

The new mall has a cinema, a bowling alley, and over fifty different shops.

Common collocations
  • go to the mall
  • at the mall
  • shopping mall
  • indoor mall
  • outdoor mall
  • mall security
  • mall parking lot
  • the mall has + [shops / restaurants / a cinema]
Synonyms
  • shopping center

    broader term; can refer to any group of stores including outdoor strip malls, not necessarily enclosed

  • plaza

    often refers to an open-air shopping area with a town-square feel, usually smaller than a mall

  • arcade

    a covered passageway lined with shops, typically older and more narrow than a modern mall

Usage Note

Frequently used with the definite article in generic reference, especially in American English ('I'm going to the mall'). Plural form 'malls' is used when referring to specific buildings ('Seoul has several huge malls').

Common Mistakes

I went to the mall to buy some thing from it.
I went to the mall to buy something.
'mall' already includes the location; no need to add 'from it'.

2. a public path or street that is closed to vehicles, often planted with trees and

2.nounC1
Definition

a public path or street that is closed to vehicles, often planted with trees and designed for people to walk, shop, or relax outdoors.

Example

The old town has a tree-lined mall where people walk and chat in the evenings.

collocation: tree-lined mall

Lucía walked slowly along the mall, past flower stalls and outdoor cafes.

Common collocations
  • tree-lined mall
  • public mall
  • pedestrian mall
  • along the mall
  • the Mall in London
Synonyms
  • promenade

    a public walking area, often by the seaside; more formal and leisurely than 'mall'

  • walkway

    a general term for any path for walking; less specific than 'mall' which implies a designed public space

  • pedestrian zone

    a car-free area in a town or city, usually referring to a whole district rather than a single path

Usage Note

This older sense is more common in British English and in place-name contexts (e.g., 'Pall Mall' or 'The Mall' in London). For most everyday contexts, the shopping sense (sense 1) is used instead.

Idioms

mall rat

idiom

a young person who spends a lot of free time hanging out at shopping malls with friends, often without intending to buy anything.

Henrik and his friends were typical mall rats — they went there every Friday just to hang out.

Word family

  • malls
    noun (plural)B1
  • shopping mall
    nounB1
  • mall rat
    noun (informal)C1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A mall is typically a large enclosed complex of shops, restaurants, and entertainment facilities with pedestrian-only walkways and ample parking — the most common term in American English. A shopping center is a broader term covering any group of stores, from a strip mall to a large enclosed mall, and is more commonly used in British English. A plaza refers to an open-air shopping area that feels like a town square, often with fountains and seating; it is usually smaller and more design-focused than a mall. An arcade is a covered passageway lined with small shops on both sides, generally older and narrower than a modern mall. For example, you would say 'Let's meet at the food court in the mall' but 'The antique shops are in a small arcade off the main street.'

mall ↗shopping centerplaza ↗arcade ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • mall entrance
  • mall security
  • mall parking

Prepositions

  • at the mall
  • to the mall
  • in the mall
  • along the mall

Etymology

ItalianFrenchEnglish

The word 'mall' comes from the 17th-century game 'pall-mall', in which players hit a wooden ball with a mallet through an iron hoop along a long, narrow alley. The Italian original 'pallamaglio' combines palla ('ball') and maglio ('mallet'). In London, the alley where the game was played became known as 'The Mall', which later turned into a fashionable tree-lined walking street. Over the next century, the word came to describe any public pedestrian walkway. In the mid-1900s, when large shopping centers were built around pedestrian concourses, the name was brought back for these commercial spaces — giving us the sense most people know today.