spaghetti junction
- noun
:
nudo de spaghetti
- Driving through the spaghetti junction can be confusing for newcomers to the area.
Examples
-
He drove 'em around in circles on spaghetti junction.
-
There's an accident working at the spaghetti junction.
-
The city is known for its complicated spaghetti junction, where several highways converge at different levels.
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Construction on the spaghetti junction is expected to improve traffic flow significantly.
Synonyms
8
5.6
A road junction with ramps that lets cars change highways without crossing traffic
How Complex
8
5.6
- UK
8
3.4
118
2.6
- UK
1
3.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning — a tangled, multi-level highway interchange — is directly suggested by combining 'spaghetti' (thin, tangled pasta) with 'junction' (a meeting of roads), so a B1 learner who knows both words can readily picture and infer the intended metaphor. Although it's a fixed name (and more common in some varieties of English), the visual, cross-linguistically accessible likeness makes the compound transparently interpretable.
Etymology
Spaghetti junction comes from the image of long, twisting roads that look like a plate of spaghetti around a busy junction. That's why it means 'a very tangled and confusing place where roads meet'.