noodle

¹

[nood-l]

noun

1. a narrow strip of unleavened egg dough that has been rolled thin and dried, boiled, and served alone or in soups, casseroles, etc.; a ribbon-shaped pasta.

noodle

²

[nood-l]

noun

1. Slang.

   1. the head.

   2. the mind.

2. a fool or simpleton.

noodle

³

[nood-l]

verb (used without object)

noodled, noodling 

1. to improvise a musical passage in a casual manner, especially as a warm-up exercise.

2. Informal.

   1. to play; toy.

      to noodle with numbers as a hobby.

   2. to improvise, experiment, or think creatively.

      The writers noodled for a week and came up with a better idea for the ad campaign.

verb (used with object)

noodled, noodling 

1. Informal.

   1. to manipulate or tamper with.

      She denied that she had noodled the statistics to get a favorable result.

   2. to make or devise freely as an exercise or experiment (sometimes followed byup ).

      The architects noodled up a model of a solar house.

verb phrase

1. noodle around,  to play, experiment, or improvise.

noodle

⁴

[nood-l]

verb (used with or without object)

Chiefly Midland U.S.

noodled, noodling 

1. to catch fish, especially catfish, with only one’s bare hands.

   We watched him noodle a 62-pound flathead catfish.

   Their video on how to noodle for some pretty monstrous catfish includes footage from several rivers in Oklahoma.

noodle

¹

/ ˈnuːdəl /

noun

1. a slang word for head

2. a simpleton

noodle

²

/ ˈnuːdəl /

noun

1. (often plural) a ribbon-like strip of pasta: noodles are often served in soup or with a sauce

noodle

³

/ ˈnuːdəl /

verb

1. slang,  (intr) to improvise aimlessly on a musical instrument

Other Word Forms

• noodler noun
• noodling noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of noodle¹

First recorded in 1770–80; from German Nudel

Origin of noodle²

First recorded in 1745–55; perhaps variant of noddle (with oo from fool ¹ )

Origin of noodle³

An Americanism dating back to 1935–40; origin uncertain

Origin of noodle⁴

First recorded in 1920–25; origin unknown

Word History and Origins

Origin of noodle¹

C18: perhaps a blend of _noddle ¹ and _noodle ¹

Origin of noodle²

C18: from German Nudel, origin obscure

Example Sentences

Non-stop snow, instant noodles and yaks: tales of being trapped on Everest.

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Think blindfolded obstacle courses, pool noodle wars—and the ping-pong ball game.

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“It’s like my bowl of chicken noodle soup,” she said.

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Depending on the day, sometimes they tell you the glass noodles are gluten-free and sometimes they tell you they’re not, so I wouldn’t recommend that to anyone who is celiac.

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S.F. manufactures a variety of instant noodle projects out of Garden Grove, according to charging documents filed in U.S.

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Related Words

• coconut