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• alamo
  alamo

  noun

  a poplar.
• Alamo
  Alamo

  noun

  a Franciscan mission in San Antonio, Texas, besieged by Mexicans on February 23, 1836, during the Texan war for independence and taken on March 6, 1836, with its entire garrison killed.

alamo

¹ American  

[al-uh-moh, ah-luh-] / ˈæl əˌmoʊ, ˈɑ lə- /

noun

Southwestern U.S.

alamos plural

1. a poplar.

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Alamo ² American  

[al-uh-moh] / ˈæl əˌmoʊ /

noun

1. a Franciscan mission in San Antonio, Texas, besieged by Mexicans on February 23, 1836, during the Texan war for independence and taken on March 6, 1836, with its entire garrison killed.

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Alamo British  

/ ˈæləˌməʊ /

noun

1. a mission in San Antonio, Texas, the site of a siege and massacre in 1836 by Mexican forces under Santa Anna of a handful of American rebels fighting for Texan independence from Mexico

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Alamo Cultural  

1. A fort, once a chapel, in San Antonio, Texas, where a group of Americans made a heroic stand against a much larger Mexican force in 1836, during the war for Texan independence from Mexico. The Mexicans, under General Santa Anna, besieged the Alamo and eventually killed all of the defenders, including Davy Crockett.

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Discover More

Rallying under the cry “Remember the Alamo!”, Texans later forced the Mexicans to recognize the independent republic of Texas.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• alamos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of alamo

First recorded in 1830–40, alamo is from the Spanish word álamo poplar, ultimately < a pre-Roman language of Iberia

Example Sentences

There was a sandwich shop built in an ersatz Alamo and imitation of San Antonio’s Riverwalk with a Mexican restaurant that offered both classic and frozen margaritas.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

He was grateful that Issa’s Alamo stand had bought time to prepare a defense.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

It was, he told Squire, a "Flaming Alamo".

From BBC • Feb. 16, 2026

They found an address that Harp believed was likely to feature a Flaming Alamo brick wall, and was on the sofa customer-base list.

From BBC • Feb. 16, 2026

"Welcome back to the Alamo," she hollered when I opened her door.

From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos