Other forms: malls
A mall is a large indoor building full of shops. Go to the mall, a shopping mall, the mall closes at nine.
It is chiefly American; British English says shopping centre, and the word mall is used in Britain mainly for the very largest ones. Note the pronunciation split: in America and for shopping centres it rhymes with ball, while The Mall in London — the ceremonial road to Buckingham Palace — rhymes with pal, and that is a genuine trap. That road is the origin of the word: it was a pall-mall alley, where a ball game was played, and the game gave its name to the avenue and then to the shops.
1nounmallA large enclosed building containing many shops.
“The mall has three floors and one working escalator.”
synonyms: shopping centre
2nounwideA wide tree-lined walk or avenue.
“The parade came all the way down the Mall.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
mall is a shopping building.
Also accepted in games: shopping center, shopping centre
Probably from The Mall, a major street in London, England, which was originally a pall mall alley.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA