[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/tamale.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / tamale

[← T](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/T/)

# tamale

«tamale» in Mova's school dictionary: **a Mexican and Central American food made of corn dough…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a tamale, tamales)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A tamale is a Mexican and Central American food made of corn dough (masa) filled with meat, cheese, beans or vegetables, wrapped in a corn husk or banana leaf and steamed. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tamale/#m1)

2) You unwrap and throw away the husk before eating. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tamale/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In food and culture lessons, tamales are made by families together, especially for festivals and Christmas in Mexico and in Mexican-American homes in the USA; making tamales together is called a «tamalada». Phrases: «chicken tamales», «a dozen tamales», «sweet tamales».

### examples

- We steamed tamales wrapped in corn husks. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tamale/#x1)
- Grandma makes tamales every Christmas. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tamale/#x2)
- Don't eat the corn husk, just the tamale inside. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tamale/#x3)
- Some tamales are sweet and filled with fruit. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tamale/#x4)
- The whole family helped fold the tamales. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tamale/#x5)
- A Mexican food truck sold chicken tamales. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tamale/#x6)
- In Central America, tamales are often wrapped in banana leaves. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tamale/#x7)

### note

Countable: a tamale, tamales. Said «tuh-MAH-lee». In Spanish one is «un tamal», plural «tamales»; English made «tamale» from the plural.

### In the corpora

- [His friends try her tamales and say they're «bussin'» (Gen Alpha slang for really tasty).](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/512-the-granny-who-spoils-you-and-the-strict-grandad/17/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «tamale» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tamale/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.