Spaghetti is a type of pasta made from wheat flour and water, formed into long, thin, round strands. The name comes from the Italian word spago, meaning “string” or “twine,” which perfectly describes its shape.

To make spaghetti, you boil the dried strands in salted water until they're tender but still slightly firm (Italians call this al dente, meaning “to the tooth”). Most people eat spaghetti with sauce: tomato sauce with meatballs is a classic American favorite, while in Italy you might find it served with garlic and olive oil, or with carbonara sauce made from eggs and cheese.

Spaghetti is also used to describe tangled messes. If wires behind your computer are all twisted together, you might call it a spaghetti of cables. When something gets hopelessly complicated and disorganized, people sometimes call it spaghetti code (in computer programming) or just say, “What a mess of spaghetti!”

The image of spaghetti is so familiar that it appears in sayings and stories: in one famous scene from Lady and the Tramp, two dogs accidentally kiss while sharing a strand of spaghetti. And spaghetti westerns are a type of cowboy movie, named because they were made by Italian directors in the 1960s.