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:
Where they do the farmers market, there’s an amazing tamale stand that does these chicken and green chile tamales.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
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
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
After the U.S. exhibitions, Florenz plans to send the traveling group of approximately 40 coffins to Red Clay Studio in Tamale, Ghana.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
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
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
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
At the 1893 World’s Fair, tamale cart vendors sparked a national obsession with tamales, writes Times columnist Gustavo Arellano in his book “Taco USA.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
