masa

American  

[mah-suh, mah-sah] / ˈmɑ sə, ˈmɑ sɑ /

noun

Mexican Cooking.

1. flour or dough made of dried, ground corn, used especially for tortillas.

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Etymology

Origin of masa

< Spanish: dough < Latin massa; see mass

Example Sentences

For chicken nuggets, tortilla-based masa and jalapeño buttermilk coatings were the key.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 22, 2025

Specializing in Northern and Coastal Mexican cuisine, the kitchen grinds 150 pounds of heritage corn into fresh masa each week, pressing it to order for every tortilla.

From Salon • Oct. 31, 2025

The masa isn’t going away — but it will go bad if you neglect it.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 16, 2024

“I saw Mexican customers who wouldn’t eat blue masa tortillas,” remembers Ruelas.

From Salon • Oct. 13, 2024

By the fire, in a three-legged stone bowl, was a lump of fresh masa twice the size of a toaster.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann