gallery

gal·ler·y (g

-r

)

n. pl. gal·ler·ies

1. A roofed promenade, especially one extending along the wall of a building and supported by arches or columns on the outer side.

2. A long enclosed passage, such as a hallway or corridor.

a. A narrow balcony, usually having a railing or balustrade, along the outside of a building.

b. A projecting or recessed passageway along an upper story on the interior or exterior of a large building, generally marked by a colonnade or arcade.

c. Such a passageway situated over the aisle of a church and opening onto the nave. Also called tribune².

4. Southwestern Gulf States See veranda.

a. An upper section, often with a sloping floor, projecting from the rear or side walls of a theater or an auditorium to provide additional seating.

b. The seats in such a section, usually cheaper than those on the main floor.

c. The cheapest seats in a theater, generally those of the uppermost gallery.

d. The audience occupying a gallery or cheap section of a theater.

6. A large audience or group of spectators, as at a tennis or golf match.

7. The general public, usually considered as exemplifying a lack of discrimination or sophistication: accused the administration of playing to the gallery on the defense issue.

a. A building, an institution, or a room for the exhibition of artistic work.

b. An establishment that displays and sells works of art.

c. A photographer's studio.

9. A collection; an assortment: The trial featured a gallery of famous and flamboyant witnesses.

10.

a. An underground tunnel or passageway, as in a cave or one dug for military or mining purposes.

b. A passage made by a tunneling insect or animal.

11. Nautical A platform or balcony at the stern or quarters of some early sailing ships.

12. A decorative upright trimming or molding along the edge of a table top, tray, or shelf.

[Middle English galerie, from Old French, from Old North French galilee, galilee; see galilee.]

galler·ied adj.

Regional Note: In Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, an open roofed porch that runs along at least one side of a house has been called a gallery: "Out on the small front gallery she had hung Bobinôt's Sunday clothes to air" (Kate Chopin). Craig M. Carver, the author of American Regional Dialects, points out that the word gallery, from Old French galerie, was borrowed into British English in the 15th century and was brought over to the American colonies by English-speaking settlers. Although the word in the sense "porch" did not survive in the American English of the East Coast, it was borrowed separately, probably from Acadian French, into the English of 18th-century Louisiana and there survived as part of the Southwestern Gulf dialect.

gallery

Noun

pl -leries

1. a room or building for displaying works of art

2. a balcony running along or around the inside wall of a church, hall, or other building

3. Theatre

a. an upper floor that projects from the rear and contains the cheapest seats

b. the audience seated there

4. an underground passage in a mine or cave

5. a group of spectators, for instance at a golf match

6. play to the gallery to try to gain approval by appealing to popular taste [Old French galerie]

Gallery the audience in the gallery, 1649, used in relation to a theatre or the political arena, e.g., ‘playing to the gallery’. See also audience.

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun	1.	gallery - spectators at a golf or tennis match audience - a gathering of spectators or listeners at a (usually public) performance; "the audience applauded"; "someone in the audience began to cough"
	2.	gallery - a porch along the outside of a building (sometimes partly enclosed) veranda, verandah lanai - a veranda or roofed patio often furnished and used as a living room porch - a structure attached to the exterior of a building often forming a covered entrance
	3.	gallery - a room or series of rooms where works of art are exhibited art gallery, picture gallery room - an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling; "the rooms were very small but they had a nice view" salon - gallery where works of art can be displayed
	4.	gallery - a long usually narrow room used for some specific purpose; "shooting gallery" room - an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling; "the rooms were very small but they had a nice view"
	5.	gallery - a covered corridor (especially one extending along the wall of a building and supported with arches or columns) corridor - an enclosed passageway; rooms usually open onto it
	6.	gallery - narrow recessed balcony area along an upper floor on the interior of a building; usually marked by a colonnade amphitheater, amphitheatre - a sloping gallery with seats for spectators (as in an operating room or theater) balcony - a platform projecting from the wall of a building and surrounded by a balustrade or railing or parapet choir loft - a gallery in a church occupied by the choir organ loft - a gallery occupied by a church organ
	7.	gallery - a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) passageway in a mine; "they dug a drift parallel with the vein" heading, drift mining, excavation - the act of extracting ores or coal etc from the earth passageway - a passage between rooms or between buildings