pasta
Americannoun
-
pastas
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pasta
1870–75; < Italian < Late Latin. See paste
Explanation
Pasta is any Italian style of noodle, including spaghetti, ziti, and macaroni. Your favorite type of pasta might be fettuccine, especially when it's served in a creamy Alfredo sauce. Pasta refers to the noodle, or to the dish that contains it, like vegetable lasagna or spaghetti carbonara. Most pasta is made from semolina flour and water, and often eggs. The stiff dough is rolled very thin and then cut into shapes or long ribbons. It can be cooked from this soft, fresh state, or (more commonly) dried, packaged, and sold. Pasta is an Italian word (surprise, surprise), from Late Latin, which means "dough or paste."
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:
Miso, honey and red-pepper flakes deepen the mixture; pasta water turns it glossy enough to tuck itself into the tubes and folds of a sturdy short pasta.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Instead of straining vegetables and pasta, you can use a colander to achieve a similar effect to that of the pinhole projector.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Bailey Kreinbrink, 28, a content creator in Atlanta, said she lost 50 pounds in a year while eating bread, pasta and pizza in Italy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Before she left, she filled multiple bags with pesto, pasta, Parmigiano reggiano cheese, balsamic vinegar and salt, and made it last back home before she returned to Italy, this time in Florence, in February 2024.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Turkey, stuffed chicken, gravy, three-cheese macaroni, pasta salad, fried steak, lasagna.
From "The Skin I'm In" by Sharon G. Flake
Sides, pastas and desserts tend to be more profitable, with lower ingredient costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
Its sprawling, old factory and corporate office in Gardena is now churning out protein-fortified pastas for Angelenos who want more bang for their bowls.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2025
I love their oysters, but they also have a great burger, pastas and salads.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2025
On his restaurant's board of pastas, he offers cacio e pepe with lime - a variation.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2025
“The pastas are usually pretty good here,” he says as the waiter hands them menus.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Definitions 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.
