noodle.
A string or flat strip of pasta or other dough, usually cooked (at least initially) by boiling, and served in soup or in a dry form mixed with a sauce and other ingredients.
Meaning & usage
A string or flat strip of pasta or other dough, usually cooked (at least initially) by boiling, and served in soup or in a dry form mixed with a sauce and other ingredients.
She slurped a long noodle up out of her soup.
She is cooking noodles for dinner.
An object which is long and thin like a noodle (sense 1).
An object which is long and thin like a noodle (sense 1). Ellipsis of pool noodle (“a long, slender tube or rod, extruded from buoyant foam and usually brightly coloured, used as an exercise tool or toy in swimming pools”).
A dumpling cooked by boiling and served in soup; a knaidel or knödel.
The penis.
A long and slender dragon, usually an eastern dragon.
A borzoi dog.
Where this word comes from
Borrowed from Dutch noedel (“noodle”), or from its etymon German Nudel (“piece of pasta, noodle”); further etymology uncertain, probably a variant of Knödel (“dumpling”), from Middle High German knödel (“dumpling; small knot”), and then either: * from knode, knote (“knot”) (from Old High German knodo, knoto (“knot”), perhaps ultimately related to Proto-West Germanic *knappō (“knob; boy”)) + -el (diminutive suffix); or * from Ladin menùdli (“small dough dumpling in soup”), probably from Latin minutulus (“very small, tiny”) (in the sense of food chopped into small pieces), a diminutive of minūtus (“diminished; having been diminished”), the perfect passive participle of minuō (“to make smaller, diminish, lessen, reduce”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“little, small”). Cognates * French nouille, noudle, nudeln * Swedish nudel
A person with poor judgment; a fool.
The brain; the head.
Where this word comes from
The origin of the noun is uncertain; it is possibly a variant of noddle (“the head”). The verb is derived from the noun.
To fool or trick (someone).
To engage in frivolous behavior; to fool around or waste time.
Where this word comes from
The origin of the noun is uncertain; it is possibly a variant of noddle (“the head”). The verb is derived from the noun.
To hum or sing (a tune) at a low pitch or volume.
Where this word comes from
Possibly either: * a blend of Shetland Scots nune (“to sing softly, croon, hum”) (from Danish nynne, Norwegian nuna, nynna (“to hum; to sing”), originally imitative) + English doodle (“to play the bagpipes”) (chiefly Scotland); or * from Norn (unattested), from Old Norse *grynta, from Proto-Germanic *grunnatjaną (“to grunt”), a frequentative of Proto-Germanic *grunnōną (“to grunt”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrun- (“to shout”) (and thus a doublet of grunt).
To play (a musical instrument or passage of music) or to sing (a passage of music) in an improvisatory or lighthearted manner; also, to play (a series of ornamental notes) on an instrument.
To ponder or think about (something).
“Noodle that thought around for a while,” said Dr. Johnson to his Biblical Interpretations class.
To play a musical instrument or to sing in an improvisatory or lighthearted manner; also, to play a series of ornamental notes on an instrument.
He has been noodling with that trumpet all afternoon, and every bit of it sounds awful.
To ponder or think, especially in an unproductive or unsystematic manner; to muse.
He noodled over the problem for a day or two before making a decision.
To attempt in an informal or uncertain manner; to fiddle.
If the machine is really broken, noodling with the knobs is not going to fix it.
Often followed by about or around: to mess around, to play.
Where this word comes from
The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly derived: * from noodle (“to hum or sing (a tune) at a low pitch or volume”) (Shetland) (see etymology 3); or * from German nudeln (“to make music or sing listlessly; to make music or sing at a low pitch or volume, or in an improvisatory manner”) (Leipzig), apparently from Nudel (“piece of pasta, noodle”) (see etymology 1) + -n (a variant of -en (suffix forming the infinitives of verbs)). The word was probably also influenced by doodle (“to draw or scribble aimlessly”, verb). The noun is probably derived from the verb, though the verb is first attested later. The noun was probably also influenced by doodle (“small mindless sketch”, noun).
An improvised passage of music played on an instrument; also, a series of ornamental notes played on an instrument; a trill.
Where this word comes from
The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly derived: * from noodle (“to hum or sing (a tune) at a low pitch or volume”) (Shetland) (see etymology 3); or * from German nudeln (“to make music or sing listlessly; to make music or sing at a low pitch or volume, or in an improvisatory manner”) (Leipzig), apparently from Nudel (“piece of pasta, noodle”) (see etymology 1) + -n (a variant of -en (suffix forming the infinitives of verbs)). The word was probably also influenced by doodle (“to draw or scribble aimlessly”, verb). The noun is probably derived from the verb, though the verb is first attested later. The noun was probably also influenced by doodle (“small mindless sketch”, noun).
To search (mullock (“mining or ore processing waste”)) for opals.
To obtain (an opal) by searching through mullock.
To clear extraneous material from (an opal).
To search mullock for opals; to fossick.
Where this word comes from
Uncertain; possibly: * from noodle (“to fool or trick (someone)”) (obsolete) (see etymology 2); or * from nodule (“rounded mass or irregular shape”).
To catch (fish (usually very large catfish), turtles, or other aquatic animals) with the hands; also, to catch (fish) using a gaff or fishing spear; to gaff.
Fred had several lacerations on his hands from noodling flathead in the river.
Where this word comes from
Unknown; perhaps related to guddle (“to catch (fish) with the hands”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.