Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Ground spiced chickpeas shaped into balls and fried.
- n. A sandwich filled with such a mixture.
Wiktionary
- n. uncountable A Middle Eastern food in the form of balls made from chickpeas and other ingredients. Often served in a pita.
- n. countable A pita with falafel balls inside.
- n. countable A single falafel ball.
WordNet 3.0
- n. small croquette of mashed chick peas or fava beans seasoned with sesame seeds
Etymologies
- Arabic فلافل (falaafil), the plural of فلفل (filfil, "pepper"). (Wiktionary)
- Arabic falāfil, pl. of filfil, pepper, probably from Sanskrit pippalī; see pepper. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Your falafel from the green lagoon could be the start of a whole new trend.”
“Foul could be bought for 1.5 piasters; tamaya in Israel it was called falafel sandwiches were just two piasters—roughly a nickel.”
“Gretchen, one of the best things about falafel is you can make up the mix way ahead of time.”
“The key to making tasty falafel is to use dried chickpeas (my first batch was made with cooked chickpeas; the texture was awful), soak the chickpeas at least 24 hours (I only soaked the chickpeas overnight for my second batch; everything about the falafel was wrong), and purée the soaked chickpeas until very smooth (in my third batch, the ground chickpeas were the size of dried couscous; these fell apart in the hot oil).”
“In Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, Claudia Roden says falafel is made with a mixture of chickpeas and fava beans, while Israelis and Palestinians prefer it made only with chickpeas.”
“Egyptian falafel is made using peeled and dried fava beans (not the yellow split pea Greeks call fava).”
“The falafel is fresh and is served with rice, lettuce/tomato, and chickpeas that were prepared in a really tasty sauce.”
“Their falafel is from much richer fava beans and not chickpeas.”
“Egyptian/Lebanese style means the falafel is rolled and not stuffed so one gets a bite of everything each time.”
“Their falafel is strictly OK - I personally prefer my home-made version.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘falafel’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Genes
Interesting gene names. Some of these may have changed recently (to something less offensive/funny).
http://www.genenames.org/
tinman, agnostic, dreadlocks, Van Gogh, fruitless, lava lamp, ariadne, cheap date, ken and barbie, I'm not dead yet, I'm not dead yet 2, manic fringe and 1192 more... -
Realia from Everywhere
Culturally defined terms and expressions from the four corners of the world
fjord, mistral steppe, tornado, tsunami, polder, kiwi, koala, sequoia, Abominable Snowman, paprika, spaghetti, empanada and 299 more...
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food collection
bread, peel, pot, chorizo, Filet, olive, fill, Phyllo, dough, bake, mat, pinot and 988 more...
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vegan
vegan food list of basic vegan food or types of vegan food you've had and liked.
( food, cuisine, eating, health, vegan, vegetarian, animal rights, anti-cruelty, no meat, herbivore, s...tofu, hummus, falafel, cookie, soy, nuts, fruit, burrito, veggie burger, soy cheese, rice, pasta and 52 more...
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Recently sniffed
Don't worry. I won't judge you.
(Inspired by bilby's comment on book sniffer.)orange peel, wet dog, coffee, earthworms, nail polish, liquid soap, horseradish, chocolate, microwave popcorn, empanadas, chimichurri, bike and 39 more...
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Things from my memory
nigger baby, mexican jumping bean, puddle jumper, mood ring, pet rock, cat scratch fever, taxman, hippie, vaseline, argyrol, mercurchrome, methiolade and 655 more...
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Foodie
As much fun to say as they are to eat.
blueberry, cider, almond, apricot, asparagus, banana, fudge, foldover, flapjacks, filbert, fig, biscuit and 217 more...
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kimo2000's Words
pakalolo, miliated, voodoo, vindaloo, hacienda, acquiesce, addlepated, olio, akimbo, apropos, oogenesis, arugula and 181 more...
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haguremetaru's Words
floozy, mandalay, mandible, x, don't, will, ridiculous, funily, stuff, junk, doody, manning and 152 more...
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elvesoncrack's Words
lachrymose, blustering, fjord, chihuahua, chiffon, catalytic, stile, gefilte, prosh, thwart, ralph, ickle and 379 more...
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hedges's Words
wii, crepuscule, adumbrate, concatenation, sufi, qawwali, furry, riot, mellifluous, conspiracy, etymology, tea cozy and 369 more...
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Tickles my humerus
I find these to be inherently funny.
cow tipping, bumblebee, homoscedasticity, seattle, wagga wagga, booby, pants, guacamole, poodle, fanny pack, nincompoop, svenborgia and 161 more...
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junestag's Words
postmodernism, cat, fish, rabbit, dell, coffee, elearning, mazda, php, mysql, flash, blogger and 755 more...
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Food
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spaghetti, yogurt, muesli, rarebit, wheat, cream, cheese, pumpkin, custard, couscous, oats, sausage and 237 more...
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good words
words that are mostly fun to say or just lovely
undulate, voluptuous, whimsy, parse, dank, cerulean, peen, traipsing, listless, coup de grace, reconnoiter, mercurial and 499 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for falafel.

chained_bear What does falafel taste like? Here's a brief description. Aug 11, 2009
bilby It took me a day of saying that before I finally got it, chained_bear. Oct 28, 2008
Prolagus Some falafel are very yummy indeed. I especially like when they make them crunchy, like (Italian?) meatballs. Oct 28, 2008
reesetee Haha!
My fellow Wordies are correct, jenn. Sorry you had an awful falafel. Oct 28, 2008
chained_bear My favorite get-well card has a picture of a pita on the front and the text, "Falafel?"
Inside it says "Well... feel better, okay?" Oct 27, 2008
dontcry It surely was not a proper falafel, then. Oct 27, 2008
bilby It wasn't one of those packet-mix ones, was it? Not up to scratch. Oct 27, 2008
jennarenn Finally had falafel tonight. Doesn't qualify as fried goodness in my book. :( Oct 27, 2008