tamale
noun
a Mexican dish made of minced and seasoned meat packed in cornmeal dough, wrapped in corn husks, and steamed.
tamale
1 American
[tuh-mah-lee]
/ təˈmɑ li /
noun
-
tamales
plural
Tamale
2
American
[tuh-mah-lee]
/ təˈmɑ li /
noun
tamale
British
/ təˈmɑːlɪ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tamale
1605–15, construed as singular of Mexican Spanish tamales, plural of tamal < Nahuatl tamalli
Explanation
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."
Vocabulary lists containing tamale
World Cuisine - Introductory
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World Cuisine - Middle School and High School
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Mexico - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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
De Perez said that agents presented paperwork when they picked up her daughter from her tamale stand on Friday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2025
Robby does a lot of the grocery shopping, and I’ll just, like, get a tamale.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 2025
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
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
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
As Mahama's supporters celebrated his victory, Belinda Amuzu - a teacher in the northern city of Tamale, a stronghold of Mahama - summed up their hopes.
From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2024
For catering, she hired Tamale My Life, which she chose for its solid vegetarian options.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
The Hot Tamale man tries to catch it and if he succeeds, the one who last tossed it changes places with him and the game continues.
From Games For All Occasions by Mary E. Blain
“This phrase appears several times, and is ridiculous because Martin hails from Puerto Rico, where the local cuisine includes neither chili peppers nor tamales, both of which come from Mexico.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 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
We caught the bus back home, and when we arrived, my mom started preparations for Enrique’s favorite meal, which was pork tamales.
From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez
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.
