spaghetti

noun

spa·​ghet·​ti spə-ˈge-tē 

1

: pasta made in thin solid strings

2

: insulating tubing typically of varnished cloth or of plastic for covering bare wire or holding insulated wires together

spaghettilike

spə-ˈge-tē-ˌlīk 

adjective

Examples of spaghetti in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

She was found with an old sleeping bag and a bowl of spaghetti nearby. —Tj MacIas, Kansas City Star, 4 Feb. 2025

Pastas also make an appearance on the menu, with gnocchi made in house, spaghetti and meatballs, or ravioli, all in the $18 to $22 range. —Susan Stapleton, USA TODAY, 3 Feb. 2025

The perfect gift for home chefs, this set includes a pasta roller, fettuccine and spaghetti cutter, and a cleaning brush. —Blake Bakkila, Architectural Digest, 30 Jan. 2025

In 2023, a spaghetti restaurant in New Jersey sparked controversy after announcing a ban on children under the age of 10 dining there over concerns about the amount of noise and mess created. —Jack Beresford, Newsweek, 28 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Italian, from plural of spaghetto, diminutive of spago cord, string, from Late Latin spacus

First Known Use

1874, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing spaghetti

• spaghetti squash
• spaghetti strap
• spaghetti western

Kids Definition

spaghetti

noun

spa·​ghet·​ti spə-ˈget-ē 

: a food made chiefly of a mixture of flour and water dried in the form of thin solid strings

Etymology

from Italian spaghetti "pasta made in long strings," from spaghetti, plural of spaghetto "little string," from spago "string"

Word Origin

The Italian word spago means "cord, string." The suffix -etto in Italian, like the suffix -ette in English, means "little one." Added together, spago and -etto become spaghetto, which means "little string." "Little string" describes very well the shape of a strand of spaghetti. The word spaghetti is actually the plural form of spaghetto.