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gallery

Flag: gbEnglishOxford New American Dictionary
gallery /ˈɡal(ə)rē, ˈɡæl(ə)ri /
▸ noun
(plural galleries)
1 a room or building for the display or sale of works of art:
an art gallery
the National Gallery.
▪ a collection of pictures:
an extensive gallery of color photographs.
2 a balcony, especially a platform or upper floor, projecting from the back or sidewall inside a church or hall, providing space for an audience or musicians:
in the minstrels' gallery, a string orchestra plays themes from film soundtracks.
▪ (the gallery) the highest balconies in a theater, containing the cheapest seats.
▪ a group of spectators, especially those at a golf tournament:
he lashed a two-iron onto the green, bringing gasps from the gallery.
3 a long room or passage, typically one that is partly open at the side to form a portico or colonnade.
▪ a horizontal underground passage, especially in a mine:
long underground galleries of 3 km or more made it possible to mine under the sea.
– PHRASES
play to the gallery
act in an exaggerated or theatrical manner, especially to appeal to popular taste.
– DERIVATIVES
galleried
– ORIGIN late Middle English (in gallery (SENSE 3)): via Old French from Italian galleria ‘gallery’, formerly also ‘church porch’, from medieval Latin galeria, perhaps an alteration of galilea (see galilee).