Tammany Hall

American  

noun

1. a Democratic political organization in New York City, founded in 1789 as a fraternal benevolent society Tammany Society and associated especially in the late 1800s and early 1900s with corruption and abuse of power.

2. the building in which the Tammany organization had its headquarters.

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Tammany Hall British  

/ ˈtæmənɪ /

noun

1. Also called: Tammany.  politics the central organization of the Democratic Party in New York county. Originally founded as a benevolent society ( Tammany Society ) in 1789, Tammany Hall was notorious for the corruption in city and state politics that it fostered in the 19th and early 20th centuries

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Other Word Forms

• Tammanyism noun
• Tammanyite noun

Etymology

Origin of Tammany Hall

Named after Tammany (variant of Tamanen, Tammenund ), 17th-century Delaware Indian chief, later facetiously canonized as patron saint of U.S.

Example Sentences

After all, he was fighting the combined power of the Tammany Hall political machine and newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, who united behind John Francis Hylan, a vaguely populist Brooklyn Democrat with few discernible positions.

From Salon

Yet Crumb is perhaps most directly indebted to the 19th-century political cartoonist Thomas Nast, who helped bring down Tammany Hall and New York’s Boss Tweed political machine.

From New York Times

But at just 90 minutes, “Tammany Hall” shoves you back onto the street before you can surrender to the celebration.

From New York Times

And a relative, Herbert Bruce, was the first Black Tammany Hall District leader in New York City after he won an election to lead a local Democratic club in the 1930s.

From New York Times

He claimed his impeachment was retribution for turning his back on the powerful Tammany Hall Democratic machine.

From Seattle Times