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Synonyms

noodle

1 American  
[nood-l] / ˈnud 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 American  
[nood-l] / ˈnud l /

noun

  1. Slang.

    1. the head.

    2. the mind.

  2. a fool or simpleton.

noodle 3 American  
[nood-l] / ˈnud l /

verb (used without object)

noodled, noodling

  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)

noodled, noodling

  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 byup ).

      The architects noodled up a model of a solar house.

verb phrase

  1. noodle around to play, experiment, or improvise.

noodle 4 American  
[nood-l] / ˈnud l /

verb (used with or without object)

Chiefly Midland U.S.
noodled, noodling

  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 British  
/ ˈnuːdəl /

noun

  1. a slang word for head

  2. a simpleton

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
noodle 2 British  
/ ˈnuːdəl /

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
noodle 3 British  
/ ˈnuːdəl /

verb

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • noodler noun
  • noodling noun

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“ETF issuers are firing the spaghetti cannon at the wall in the hopes that a couple of noodles stick,” Morningstar analysts wrote in a December report.

From The Wall Street Journal

They dined on famed North Korean cold noodles or grilled lamb skewers washed down with cold beers.

From The Wall Street Journal

The physical act of twirling noodles while discussing something as monumental as coming out diffuses the tension just enough for honesty to survive.

From Salon

All my spices and rice paper noodles; canned goods, condiments, vinegars, oils.

From The Wall Street Journal

She slurps spaghetti one noodle at a time and tears garlic bread into a million tiny pieces.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.