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pasta salad

pasta salad

5 1.0
A cold dish of small cooked noodles mixed with vegetables and dressing
  • noun
  • /ˈpɑːstə ˈsæləd/
translation icon : ensalada de pasta
  • At the picnic, everyone enjoyed the refreshing pasta salad made with fresh vegetables and dressing.
  • pasta salad with pesto
  • vegetable pasta salad
  • bean pasta salad

Examples

  • I served up the remains of the pasta salad I'd taken to yesterday's picnic and heated a couple of rolls.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • - I'll have the pasta salad and the crepes Suzette for dessert, please.

  • Anyway, hope you like this pasta salad!

    Blog text (28)
  • My dad started making this pasta salad to take to the free concerts we would go to in town.

    Blog text (20)
  • Why don't you try some of the pasta salad?

  • We ate pasta salad and fancy sandwiches, and then, around nine, someone put a record on the stereo and people started dancing.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • So, I invited over one of my best girlfriends to bear the Houston heat and have some chicken pasta salad on the patio.

    Blog text (20)
  • It has been a while since we packed up a cooler with chicken pasta salad and a few canoe seats.

    Blog text (20)
  • Throw together some fresh broccoli, red grapes, turkey bacon, and chopped pecans, and you've got the perfect pasta salad for any occasion!

    Blog text (28)
  • For the potluck, I prepared a delicious pasta salad with olives, bell peppers, and feta cheese.

Synonyms

salad
vspasta salad
550 1.0

A cold dish of small pieces of vegetables often served with a dressing

is more specific, centering on cold dishes built around cooked noodles
macaroni salad
vspasta salad
  • US
2 1.3

A cold salad of cooked macaroni mixed with mayonnaise and vegetables

focuses on cold dishes made with cooked noodles combined with vegetables cheese meat or dressing

How Filling

chef's salad
  • US
2 2.8
pasta salad
5 1.0
green salad
7 1.0

Surface Forms

pasta salad singular
pasta salads plural

Morphology

pasta + salad

The meaning 'a cold salad made with cooked pasta' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'pasta' (a wheat-based food) with 'salad' (a mixed cold dish), i.e. a salad whose main ingredient is pasta. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish 'ensalada de pasta', French 'salade de pâtes'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Pasta salad creates a clear picture: cooked pasta is used like salad leaves and mixed with vegetables, cheese, or dressing. That's why pasta salad means a 'cold' salad made from cooked pasta and other ingredients.