# spaghetti

/spəˈɡɛti/ (US) · /spɐɡˈɛti/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/spaghetti
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. pasta

noun · CEFR A1

a type of pasta made in long, thin strings.

For teachers: a variety of pasta shaped into long, thin, cylindrical strands.

- We had spaghetti with tomato sauce and meatballs for dinner last night.
- The chef insisted on cooking the spaghetti al dente to ensure it maintained a firm texture when tossed with the seafood sauce.

### 2. tangled mess

noun · CEFR B2 · Informal

a messy or tangled collection of things, like wires or cables.

For teachers: a tangled or disorganized collection of physical objects, typically cables or wires, resembling pasta.

- There is a spaghetti of cables behind the television that needs to be organized.
- The technician spent hours untangling the spaghetti of multicoloured wires hidden behind the server rack.

### 3. confusing code

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical · Informal

computer code that is messy and hard to understand because it is not organized well.

For teachers: source code with a complex and tangled control structure, making it difficult to maintain or follow.

- The old software was full of spaghetti code that made it impossible to fix bugs.
- The legacy system was a nightmare to update because the original developers had relied on spaghetti code rather than modular design.

Usage: Often used in the compound phrase 'spaghetti code'.

Teaching tip: This is a common term in software engineering to describe poorly written programs that 'jump' around too much.

### 4. to tangle

verb · CEFR C2 · Informal

to become twisted or tangled together.

For teachers: to become or cause to become tangled or knotted in a manner resembling pasta.

- The fishing lines started to spaghetti after the wind picked up.
- If you don't store these headphones properly, the thin wires will spaghetti inside your pocket.

## Examples

- I am cooking spaghetti for dinner tonight.
- The waiter brought a large bowl of spaghetti topped with fresh tomato sauce and basil.
- While many regions in Italy claim their own signature pasta, spaghetti remains the most internationally recognized shape, often paired with simple oil-based or tomato-based sauces.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.