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

Skip the spaghetti, and let meatballs shine in this bowl of cheesy, hearty, comforting recipe. —Nellah Bailey McGough, Southern Living, 30 Oct. 2025

Hurricane Melissa spaghetti models Illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. —Gabe Hauari, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025

Initial bites include ikura tartlet, a fresh salmon roe tartlet; katsuo pesto, skipjack tuna with pesto spaghetti; and aji toast, with horse mackerel and homemade milk bread. —Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 30 Oct. 2025

The food boxes were assembled in a Houston warehouse by the grocery and logistics company Umoja Health, said chief marketing officer Missy Hunter, and contained everything from noodles and spaghetti sauce to pancake mix and syrup. —Dave Smith, Fortune, 30 Oct. 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

Rhymes for spaghetti

• confetti
• libretti
• betty
• chetty
• jetty
• petit
• sweaty
• yeti
• spermaceti

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.