noodle

¹

[ nood-l ]

noun

1. a narrow strip of unleavened egg dough that has been rolled thin and dried, boiled, and served alone or in soups, casseroles, etc.; a ribbon-shaped pasta.

noodle

²

[ nood-l ]

noun

1. Slang.
   1. the head.
   2. the mind.
2. a fool or simpleton.

noodle

³

[ nood-l ]

verb (used without object)

, noo·dled, noo·dling.

1. to improvise a musical passage in a casual manner, especially as a warm-up exercise.
2. Informal.
   1. to play; toy:

      to noodle with numbers as a hobby.

   2. to improvise, experiment, or think creatively:

      The writers noodled for a week and came up with a better idea for the ad campaign.

verb (used with object)

, noo·dled, noo·dling.

1. Informal.
   1. to manipulate or tamper with:

      She denied that she had noodled the statistics to get a favorable result.

   2. to make or devise freely as an exercise or experiment (sometimes followed by up ):

      The architects noodled up a model of a solar house.

verb phrase

1. Informal. to play, experiment, or improvise.

noodle

⁴

[ nood-l ]

verb (used with or without object)

, Chiefly Midland U.S.

, noo·dled, noo·dling.

1. to catch fish, especially catfish, with only one’s bare hands:

   We watched him noodle a 62-pound flathead catfish.

   Their video on how to noodle for some pretty monstrous catfish includes footage from several rivers in Oklahoma.

noodle

¹

/ ˈnuːdəl /

noun

1. often plural a ribbon-like strip of pasta: noodles are often served in soup or with a sauce

noodle

²

/ ˈnuːdəl /

noun

1. a slang word for head
2. a simpleton

noodle

³

/ ˈnuːdəl /

verb

1. slang.
   intr to improvise aimlessly on a musical instrument

Other Words From

• noo·dler noun
• noo·dling noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of noodle¹

First recorded in 1770–80; from German Nudel

Origin of noodle²

First recorded in 1745–55; perhaps variant of noddle (with oo from fool ¹ )

Origin of noodle³

An Americanism dating back to 1935–40; origin uncertain

Origin of noodle⁴

First recorded in 1920–25; origin unknown

Word History and Origins

Origin of noodle¹

C18: from German Nudel, origin obscure

Origin of noodle²

C18: perhaps a blend of noddle ¹and noodle ¹

Example Sentences

Silver Lake The meat in Silver Lake’s walkabilty sandwich is Sunset Junction, where Santa Monica and Sunset boulevards converge and there’s plenty for pedestrians to peruse, including Mohawk General Store and Taiwanese noodle shop Pine & Crane, a twice-weekly farmers market and one of the best Erewhons to people-watch in.

From Los Angeles Times

However the World Series goes for the gutsy Dodgers, all those annoying couch potato critics who dissed Dave Roberts during an injury-plagued season need to issue mea culpas, followed by 30 lashes with a wet noodle.

From Los Angeles Times

“I did one where I ate a Pot Noodle and a tin of rice pudding.”

From BBC

“CNN sheds image of ‘Chicken Noodle Network,’” United Press International, June 2, 1990.

From Slate

Traditional high street names now share the centre with bubble tea shops, a noodle bar and a Korean barbecue restaurant.

From BBC

Related Words

• coconut