mall
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun: 1. A large, enclosed shopping complex: A carefully designed building or complex of buildings containing a variety of retail stores, often arranged along indoor walkways or around a central atrium. It typically includes restaurants, food courts, and ample parking. 2. A public walkway or promenade: A shaded public area or street lined with trees and shops, designed for pedestrians. (This meaning is less common in modern American English but is the origin of the word).
Usage and Examples
Noun (Shopping Complex):
- We went to the mall to buy new clothes and see a movie.
- The new mall on the outskirts of town has over a hundred stores.
- Teenagers often hang out at the food court in the mall.
Noun (Pedestrian Walkway):
- The historic city mall is lined with benches and oak trees. (This usage often refers to specific, older pedestrian areas).
Advanced Usage and Nuances
- The term "mall" by itself almost always refers to a large, indoor shopping center in contemporary American English.
- "Strip mall" or "shopping plaza" refers to a row of stores with shared parking in front, not in a single enclosed building. This is a related but distinct concept.
- "Online shopping has impacted traditional malls." – Here, "malls" represents the broader concept of physical retail centers.
Variants and Related Words
- Shopping mall: The full term, synonymous with the primary modern definition.
- Strip mall / Shopping plaza / Retail plaza: A group of stores with a common parking lot, typically not enclosed.
- Megamall / Supermall: An exceptionally large shopping mall.
- Food court: A common area within a mall with multiple fast-food vendors.
- Mail: (Homophone) Letters and packages delivered by the postal service.
Synonyms
- Shopping center
- Shopping complex
- Galleria (often used for more upscale malls)
- Arcade (British English, or for a smaller, specific passageway of shops)
Related Phrases
- To mall-hop / To go mall-hopping: To visit multiple shopping malls in one trip.
- We spent the afternoon mall-hopping to find the best deals.
- Mall rat: (Informal, sometimes derogatory) A person, especially a teenager, who spends a lot of time loitering in shopping malls.
- In the 1990s, he was a typical mall rat, meeting friends at the video game store every weekend.
Noun
- mercantile establishment consisting of a carefully landscaped complex of shops representing leading merchandisers; usually includes restaurants and a convenient parking area; a modern version of the traditional marketplace
- a good plaza should have a movie house
- they spent their weekends at the local malls
- a public area set aside as a pedestrian walk