Spanish word

palillo

Pronunciation

IPA/paˈliʝo/

Meaning

  • masculine nountoothpick

Example

Después de comer, busco un palillo en la mesa.

After eating, I look for a toothpick on the table.

Illustration for palillo (toothpick)

More examples

Pinchó el canapé con un palillo.

He pierced the canapé with a toothpick.

Core concept

Thin pointed stick, usually wooden, used for picking at teeth or piercing small portions of food.

Common phrases

  • sacar un palillo

    take out a toothpick

  • pinchar con un palillo

    pierce with a toothpick

Similar words

mondadientes: Short stick for removing bits of food lodged between teeth.
palito: Small pointed skewer for piercing or serving bite-sized pieces of food.

Definition in Spanish

Objeto fino y puntiagudo de tamaño reducido, empleado para pinchar porciones de comida y como utensilio para la higiene dental.

Word origin

Built from palo 'stick' plus the diminutive -illo, the term keeps the sense 'little stick' that names this utensil.

Usage tips

  • At the table after a meal, palillo normally refers to a toothpick, but in bar service palillo more often denotes the skewer used to present tapas.

Other meanings

  • skewernoun

Word lists with this word