tamale

noun

ta·​ma·​le tə-ˈmä-lē 

: cornmeal dough rolled with ground meat or beans seasoned usually with chili, wrapped usually in corn husks, and steamed

Examples of tamale in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

It’s anchored by those same signature jackfruit carnitas tamales with fresh salsa, and chile relleno stuffed with creamy mozzarella served with vegetable turmeric rice and refried beans. —Von Diaz, Bon Appetit Magazine, 11 Dec. 2025

The restaurant offers 17 kinds of tamales including classic red chili chicken tamales. —Sacbee.com, 11 Dec. 2025

At that time, tamales were filled with ingredients such as chili, beans, squash, and meat from local animals such as turkey, rabbit, axolotl, frog, and even fish. —Paula Soria, AZCentral.com, 10 Dec. 2025

Don’t miss her vegan squash tamale with mole verde and Thai basil, truffle-topped maitake mushrooms in mole blanco, and crisped tilefish. —David Morris, Travel + Leisure, 25 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Mexican Spanish tamales, plural of tamal tamale, from Nahuatl tamalli steamed cornmeal dough

First Known Use

1854, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for tamale

• colley
• collie
• dolly
• folly
• golly
• holly
• jolley
• jolly
• lolly
• mollie
• molly
• ollie

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Kids Definition

tamale

noun

ta·​ma·​le tə-ˈmäl-ē 

: cornmeal dough rolled with ground meat or beans seasoned usually with chili, wrapped in corn husks, and steamed

Geographical Definition

Tamale

geographical name

Ta·​ma·​le tä-ˈmä-lā 

town in northern Ghana population 371,351