1605–15, construed as singular of Mexican Spanish tamales, plural of tamal < Nahuatl tamalli
The tamale is a popular food in Mexican cuisine, made of cornmeal dough that's filled with meat or cheese and wrapped in a cornhusk before being steamed. If you have the chance, you should definitely try some tamales. Traditionally, the cornhusk (or banana leaf) wrapper was used as a plate for eating the warm tamale, and these delicious savory treats are often still eaten this way today. The starchy masa (or cornmeal) that's used in tamales becomes firm after being steamed, and this makes it a perfect portable meal. The word tamale comes from the Mexican Spanish tamal, which has a Nahuatl root, tamalli, meaning "wrapped."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The show’s narrator and singer regales guests with tales of how different Latin countries present stories of Santa Claus, or, say, the joy of unwrapping a tamale.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2025
Anguish colored the faces of Maria's son and another daughter, age 16, as they stepped in to continue running the tamale cart in the very spot where their mother was taken into custody.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2025
There, a narrator and singer welcomes and regales guests with tales of how different Latin countries present stories of Santa Claus, or, say, the joy of unwrapping a tamale.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2024
Dig into tamale waffles, topped with shredded beef and two eggs or rich, cheesy shrimp and grits.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 1, 2024
He lives with his mother, a tamale maker, in a tiny wooden shack.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
The family said they had decided to bury Awuche in Tamale instead of Gambaga as the village would have been overwhelmed with mourners.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
The Brown Derby restaurant didn’t sell derbies, but The Tamale, on Whittier Blvd. in East L.A., sold tamales, and the trade of Randy’s Donuts in Inglewood is unmistakably doughnuts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2025
In 2020, a Ghana Air Force Harbin Z-9 helicopter made an emergency landing near Tamale Airport, and last year, another Ghana Air Force helicopter made an emergency landing at Bonsukrom in Ghana's Western Region.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2025
For catering, she hired Tamale My Life, which she chose for its solid vegetarian options.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
But, like Tamale Jose, they had raided once too often.
From Hopalong Cassidy's Rustler Round-Up by Mulford, Clarence Edward
Most of the audience joined Sayre’s family afterward at St. Cecilia’s gym for a lunch starring tamales and donuts — two of his favorite foods.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
The protester, Seth Todd, responded with a joke, saying he had tasted "spicier tamales".
From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2025
Never mind all the newborns rolled out and swaddled like Christmas tamales, or the forceps deliveries that resemble tooth extractions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
One minute Maria was selling tamales from her food cart in Chicago's West Side.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2025
I didn’t see any roads connecting the villages and at the smallest patch of level ground, someone would flag the train down and get on carrying bundles of firewood, lemonade, or tamales for sale.
From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
