Wiktionary:Word of the day/2023/January 8

1. (transitive)
   1. (chiefly jazz) 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.
   2. (US, informal) To ponder or think about (something).
2. (intransitive)
   1. (chiefly jazz) 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.
   2. (US, informal)
      1. To ponder or think, especially in an unproductive or unsystematic manner; to muse.
      2. To attempt in an informal or uncertain manner; to fiddle.
      3. Often followed by about or around: to mess around, to play.

noodle n

1. (usually in the plural) 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.
2. (by extension) An object which is long and thin like a noodle (sense 1).
   1. (informal) Short for 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”).
3. (archaic) A dumpling cooked by boiling and served in soup; a knaidel or knödel.

The Venetian explorer Marco Polo died on this day in 1324. A persistent myth, believed to have originated in the early 20th century, is that he introduced noodles from China to Italy, thus leading to the invention of pasta.