spaghetti
Americannoun
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spaghetti
plural
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a white, starchy pasta of Italian origin that is made in the form of long strings, boiled, and served with any of a variety of meat, tomato, or other sauces.
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Electricity. an insulating tubing of small diameter into which bare wire can be slipped.
noun
Usage
See zucchini.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of spaghetti
1885–90; < Italian, plural of spaghetto, diminutive of spago thin rope < Late Latin spacus twine, probably < Greek sphákos long-threaded lichen
Compare meaning
How does spaghetti compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Spaghetti is long, thin pasta. Spaghetti with meatballs in marinara sauce is an Italian restaurant classic. Spaghetti is a popular Italian pasta, often served with a tomato sauce sometimes called spaghetti sauce. The Italian word spago means string, and spaghetti is the plural of spago — a description of what spaghetti looks like. Spaghetti straps are very thin shoulder straps found on dresses and summery tops. In the late 1960s, "spaghetti westerns" were movies about the Wild West, filmed in Italy and directed by Italians.
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.
Unlike natural DNA -- long, entangled strands that behave like wet spaghetti when handled -- short and rigid pieces of synthetic DNA can be arranged with much greater precision at extremely small scales.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026
Teacher Kieron Fisher, who lives in Newbury, Berkshire, includes vegetables in meals his six-year-old twins Kit and Ollie already enjoy, such as curries and spaghetti Bolognese.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Neighbors hosted pancake breakfasts and spaghetti nights to raise money for lawyers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
My favorite was the spicy lobster spaghetti, tossed in chili tomato sauce and topped with bottarga and breadcrumbs for texture.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
Mom was quiet as she ate her spaghetti.
From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee
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.
