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

The plasma pasta then wraps around the black hole like spaghetti around a fork, but just like eating good pasta can be a messy affair, black holes spill a massive amount of stellar food. — Robert Lea, Space.com, 24 Sep. 2026

The dinner includes spaghetti, meatballs, garlic bread, a salad bar, spumoni, Italian ice and cookies. — Melinda Moore, Chicago Tribune, 24 Sep. 2026

After dinner, Michelle returns to the boat with her spaghetti-shoulder, as Massi calls it, strapped tightly to her body. — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2026

This spaghetti with kale is what happens when aglio e olio meets an entire crisper drawer’s worth of greens. — Carla Lalli Music, Bon Appetit Magazine, 21 Sep. 2026

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.