soba

American  

[soh-buh] / ˈsoʊ bə /

noun

plural

soba

1. Japanese Cooking. a noodle made primarily from buckwheat flour, with some wheat flour added.

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soba British  

/ ˈsəʊbə /

noun

1. (in Japanese cookery) noodles made from buckwheat flour

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Etymology

Origin of soba

First recorded in 1895–1900; from Japanese: literally, “buckwheat, buckwheat noodle”

Example Sentences

Take a break from the 14 beginner-friendly, mostly gentle trails with a steaming bowl of buckwheat soba at Chouji-An, then hit the slopes for a few more hours.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 24, 2026

Yoshihiro Serizawa, who runs a soba shop in Tokyo, said he spent about $19,000 on his new machine, which also accepts cashless payment — “a huge financial burden.”

From New York Times • Jun. 7, 2024

Examples of food provided in the breast cancer clinical trial included peanut soba noodles, steel cut oatmeal, banana flax muffins, sweet potato enchiladas, and Mediterranean white bean soup.

From Science Daily • May 22, 2024

So we go to the soba noodle place.

From Salon • Mar. 6, 2024

There is even a legend that a fox, in the semblance of an elegantly attired man, once visited Nogi-no- Kuriharaya, a popular sobaya on the lake shore, and ate much soba.

From Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan First Series by Hearn, Lafcadio