cannoli
Americannoun
-
cannolis,
plural
-
cannolo
singular
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cannoli
1940–45; < Italian, plural of cannolo, derivative of canna reed, cane; cf. cannelloni
Explanation
A cannoli is an Italian dessert that consists of a crunchy fried pastry tube filled with sweet cream. When you eat at a Sicilian restaurant, you should definitely try the cannoli. In Italian, cannoli is the plural of cannolo, "small tube," from the Latin root canna, "tube or pipe." In the tradition of pastries like éclairs and cream horns, cannoli have a pastry dough structure surrounding a sweet, creamy filling — in this case, one that's made with ricotta cheese. Cannoli are commonly dipped in chocolate or studded with tiny chocolate chips or chopped nuts.
Vocabulary lists containing cannoli
5th Grade World Cuisine, List 1
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Lasagna Means I Love You
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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:
Australian champion Rob Reid took the speciality award - where competitors can combine oatmeal with any ingredients - with his porridge cannoli, an oaty spin on a tube-shaped dessert that originated in Sicily.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
What Sacher torte is to Vienna, or kouign-amann to Brittany, or cannoli to Sicily, knafeh Nabulseyeh is to Nablus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2023
Eventually, traditions also became melded together to produce the current Americanized image of pan-Italian food that ranges from pizza to cannoli, which are both regional in Italy.
From National Geographic ● Jul. 26, 2023
They married in 1994, under a tree in Prospect Park, with two gay men officiating, before a reception with a “Super Freak” dance break and a heap of cannoli.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 5, 2023
They would maybe stop at Ortelli’s Bakery and see if they could sweet-talk Mrs. Ortelli into giving them a free creamy cannoli or crunchy biscotti.
From "I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919" by Lauren Tarshis
There were mini cannolis for dessert and colorful macarons stamped with little Pride flags.
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2024
It’s ultimately about family — yes, they’re Italian American and have dinner at noon and eat cannolis and sing “C’é la Luna” — but it’s relatable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2023
If you have room after, stop for gelato or cannolis next door to Geno’s.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 16, 2022
Dust the cannolis with powdered sugar or dip the ends into chopped chocolate and pistachios.
From Salon ● May 23, 2022
“I went to grade school with a kid whose family owned Caesar’s Pastry Shop, which is Rocco’s now, and his father used to let us fill the cannolis with cream from the bag.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 27, 2014
Today, we will be eating the traditional Sicilian cannolo, it feels like Italy but you are in China!
From The Verge ● Nov. 22, 2018
The reason for the obscurity of the latter is that no sane person would ever have just one cannolo.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 4, 2018
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
