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noodle

 - 10 dictionary results

noo⋅dle

1[nood-l]
–noun
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.

Origin:
1770–80; < G Nudel

noo⋅dle

2[nood-l]
–noun
1. Slang. the head.
2. a fool or simpleton.

Origin:
1745–55; perh. var. of noddle (with oo from fool )

noo⋅dle

3[nood-l] verb, -dled, -dling.
–verb (used without object)
1. to improvise a musical passage in a casual manner, esp. as a warm-up exercise.
2. Informal.
a. to play; toy: to noodle with numbers as a hobby.
b. 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)
3. Informal.
a. to manipulate or tamper with: She denied that she had noodled the statistics to get a favorable result.
b. to make or devise freely as an exercise or experiment (sometimes fol. by up): The architects noodled up a model of a solar house.
4. noodle around, Informal. to play, experiment, or improvise.

Origin:
1935–40, Americanism; orig. uncert.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To noodle
noo·dle 1   (nōōd'l)   
n.  A narrow, ribbonlike strip of dried dough, usually made of flour, eggs, and water.

[German Nudel.]
noo·dle 2   (nōōd'l)   
n.   Slang
  1. The human head.

  2. A weak, foolish, or stupid person.


[Probably alteration of noddle.]
noo·dle 3   (nōōd'l)   
intr.v.   noo·dled, noo·dling, noo·dles Slang
To improvise music on an instrument in an idle, haphazard fashion.

[Imitative.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
noodle

  1. n.
    (one's) head. : Put your hat on your noodle, and let's go.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

noodle  (n.)
"narrow strip of dried dough," 1779, from Ger. Nudel, of unknown origin. W.Flem. noedel and Fr. nouille are Ger. loan-words. The older noun meaning "simpleton, stupid person" (1753) probably is an unrelated word, as is the slang word for "head" (attested from 1914).

noodle  (v.)
"improvised music" (n.), 1926, probably from noodle (n.), on analogy of the suppleness of the food and that of the trills and improvised phrases. The verb is first attested 1937 (implied in noodling).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

noodle

a cooked egg-and-flour paste prominent in European and Oriental cuisine, generally distinguished from other pasta (q.v.) by its elongated, ribbonlike form. Noodles are commonly used to add body and flavour to broth soups. They are commonly boiled or sauteed and served with sauces and meats or baked in casseroles.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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