ramen

American  

[rah-muhn] / ˈrɑ mən /

noun

Japanese Cooking.

1. (used with a singular verb) a bowl of clear soup containing noodles, vegetables, and often bits of meat.

2. (usually used with a plural verb) the Asian wheat noodles used in this soup.

   I prefer the wavy ramen to the straight ones.

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ramen British  

/ ˈrɑːmən /

noun

1. a Japanese dish consisting of a clear broth containing thin white noodles and sometimes vegetables, meat, etc

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plural noun

1. thin white noodles served in such a broth

Etymology

Origin of ramen

First recorded in 1960–65; from Japanese rāmen, from Chinese lāmiàn literally, “pull noodle”

Explanation

Ramen is a delicious Japanese noodle dish that's most often served in a hot broth. Whether you use chop sticks or a spoon, there's a lot of slurping involved in eating ramen. While ramen was invented in Japan, it was heavily influenced by southern Chinese noodle dishes. The name itself is a Japanese translation of the Mandarin Chinese lāmiàn, or "pulled noodles." You can use ramen for the noodle soup, topped with tofu, nori, scallions, sliced pork, or egg — and you can also refer to the wheat noodles themselves as ramen.

Example Sentences

The glass-paned office building perched above a ramen store in the heart of Manhattan's Chinatown looked inconspicuous on a busy block of Chinese restaurants, grocery stores and apartments.

From BBC • May 16, 2026

Despite the decline, vending machines -- where ramen noodles, cut fruit, kimchi and crepes are also on offer -- are unlikely to disappear anytime soon.

From Barron's • Apr. 26, 2026

She and her teammates lounged in front of the TV watching the pairs competition Sunday and Glenn ordered ramen.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2026

Side dishes such as gyoza and ramen offerings were mostly untouched, according to Uttz, adding that the 3.5% price lift is a blended figure of all the increases.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026

Glory liked her ramen with lots of chili oil, but Danny decided he needed to start things slow.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova