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

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 • Oct. 22, 2021

He was named for a prominent lawyer and Tammany Hall leader.

From Washington Post • Mar. 30, 2021

Burrows had served two terms in the state Assembly and was one of the first Black lawmakers to join the inner circle of Tammany Hall, the Manhattan Democratic machine.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 24, 2020

As governor, he had gained a reputation for fighting Tammany Hall corruption in New York City.

From Salon • Nov. 20, 2020

And so, if I overheard mention of something I was ignorant about—keeping Kosher, Tammany Hall, haute couture— I researched it later on.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls