spaghettify

English

Etymology

Back-formation from spaghettification, equivalent to spaghetti +‎ -fy.

Verb

spaghettify (third-person singular simple present spaghettifies, present participle spaghettifying, simple past and past participle spaghettified)

(astrophysics) To stretch an object into a long thin shape under the influence of a very strong gravitational field such as a black hole.
- 2007, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Death by Black Hole:
  If, for example, a black hole eats enough to triple its mass, then it will have grown three times as wide. For this reason, black holes in the universe can be almost any size, but not all of them will spaghettify you before you cross the event horizon.
- 2013, David Wilkinson, Science, Religion, and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence:
  First, the intense gravitational forces around a black hole may 'spaghettify' space travellers before they even reach the event horizon, and second, the theory may be fully confirmed only if someone were prepared to test it.

Translations

French: spaghettifier (fr)