nigiri

[ ni-geer-ee ]

nounJapanese Cooking.

cold boiled rice moistened with rice vinegar, shaped into bite-size pieces and topped with raw seafood.

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Origin of nigiri

First recorded in 1945–50; from Japanese nigiri-zushi, literally, “hand-pressed sushi, rolled sushi,” from nigiri “a gripping or grasping, handmade rice ball,” from nigiru “to grip, grasp, roll a lump of rice in the hand” + -zushi, combining form of sushi

Sometimes ni·gi·ri-zu·shi [ni-geer-ee-zoo-shee]. /nɪˈgɪər iˈzu ʃi/.

See also sushi.

Words Nearby nigiri

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use nigiri in a sentence

Don’t come to Shibuya, co-owned by the chef’s wife, Candice Wise-Norris, expecting nigiri.
Shibuya Eatery lives up to its name, bringing Tokyo street food to Adams Morgan | Tom Sietsema | October 30, 2020 | Washington Post

British Dictionary definitions for nigiri

nigiri

/ (niːˈɡiːriː) /

noun

(in Japanese cuisine) a small oval block of cold rice topped with wasabi and a thin slice of fish, prawn, etc, and sometimes held together by a thin band of seaweed

Origin of nigiri

from Japanese, literally: grasp, as the rice is shaped by hand

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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