rice
noun
the starchy seeds or grain of an annual marsh grass, Oryza sativa, cultivated in warm climates and used for food.
rice
1 American
[rahys]
/ raɪs /
noun
-
rice
plural
-
the starchy seeds or grain of an annual marsh grass, Oryza sativa, cultivated in warm climates and used for food.
-
the grass itself.
-
a food that is chopped or otherwise processed to resemble rice (used in combination): sweet potato rice.
cauliflower rice;
sweet potato rice.
verb (used with object)
-
rices,
present (3rd person singular)
-
riced,
past participle, past
-
ricing
present participle
Rice
2
American
[rahys]
/ raɪs /
noun
-
Anne, 1941–2021, U.S. novelist.
-
Dan Daniel McLaren, 1823–1900, U.S. circus clown, circus owner, and Union patriot.
-
Elmer, 1892–1967, U.S. playwright.
-
Jerry Lee, born 1962, U.S. football player.
-
Grantland 1880–1954, U.S. journalist.
rice
1
British
/ raɪs /
noun
-
an erect grass, Oryza sativa , that grows in East Asia on wet ground and has drooping flower spikes and yellow oblong edible grains that become white when polished
-
the grain of this plant
verb
RICE
2
British
/ raɪs /
acronym
Rice
3
British
/ raɪs /
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ricesimple
-
ricessimple
-
have ricedperfect
-
has ricedperfect
-
am ricingprogressive
-
are ricingprogressive
-
is ricingprogressive
-
have been ricingperfect progressive
-
has been ricingperfect progressive
Past
-
ricedsimple
-
had ricedperfect
-
was ricingprogressive
-
were ricingprogressive
-
had been ricingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rice
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English ris, rys, from Old French, from Italian riso, risi (in Medieval Latin risium ), from Medieval Greek orýzion, derivative of Greek óryza, from an Iranian language, e.g., Old Persian brizi, Pashto vrižē; akin to Sanskrit vrīhi-, perhaps ultimately of Dravidian origin
Explanation
Rice is a kind of plant, as well as the grain that comes from it. At some Chinese restaurants, you get a choice between white rice and brown rice. White rice is processed or "polished," so the outer germ is removed — it's a staple of Chinese and Indian cuisine, among others. There are many varieties of rice, defined by the color and length of the individual grain. When rice is a verb, it means "force through a sieve," or in other words, to take something like a potato and make it look like rice. We can trace the origin of rice back to the Sanskrit vrihi-s.
Vocabulary lists containing rice
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Mitchell Yerxa and his family run a 3,500-acre farm in California’s Sacramento Valley that grows 16 crops, including tomatoes, walnuts and rice.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
Fatma Mohammed Saleh was lying on an empty rice sack outside another family's tent.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
Almost 250 people died, while vineyards, orange groves and plots used to grow Albufera rice, an essential paella ingredient, were decimated.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
On Sundays, Fumo often prepares a big portion of ground beef or chicken, using it to piece together dinner throughout the week, with rice or potatoes and a vegetable side.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Ruffling her brother’s hair, Rupa took the sifted rice outside to wash it and put it on the stove.
From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins
"The scale of the transformation of Manchester City... delivered enormous soft power gains by association for Abu Dhabi," Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Middle East researcher at Rice University's Baker Institute, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
Rice barely played in college, since the Ivy League canceled the entire 2021 season during the pandemic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Dismissing concerns over sweeping job losses on Monday, Rice framed the issue around international competition.
From Salon ● Sep. 29, 2026
Ben Rice is the Yankees’ best hitter in the absence of the injured Aaron Judge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Last-minute adjustments and inspections took up most of Friday, but just before dusk Rice told Gronau that everything appeared to be ready.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
RICE: The Owls don’t play again until Jan. 1 when they play the first of two consecutive games at Texas-San Antonio.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 20, 2020
RICE: Oh, I don't think it's just Moscow and Petersburg.
From Reuters ● Jan. 27, 2012
RICE: I don't know what his soul is, but his behavior is appalling.
From Reuters ● Jan. 27, 2012
RICE: I think what would undermine American credibility is if we said something we didn't believe.
From Time Magazine Archive
RICE, with proper management in cooking it, forms a very valuable and cheap addition to our farinaceous food, and, in years of scarcity, has been found eminently useful in lessening the consumption of flour.
From The Book of Household Management by Mrs. (Isabella Mary) Beeton
It’s one of the best fried rices in the South End: aromatic with smoky wok hei, seasoned with a clarion-sweet soy sauce and amped up with MSG.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 29, 2023
Among black rices there are also different shades, from japonica black rice, Chinese black rice, Thai black rice through to Indonesian black rice.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2023
I go to a little place to buy dumplings and I get various rices, like black rice or green rice or jasmine rice or sticky rice.
From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2020
Other vegetables soon followed: Now, if you walk down the frozen aisle of a grocery store, you can buy rices made of broccoli, sweet potato, beets and butternut squash.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 11, 2019
Indeed, a constant observer will distinguish in dogs many of the passions, virtues, and rices of men; and it is generally the case, that those of the purest race have the nobler qualifications.
From Olla Podrida by Frederick Marryat
In a large bowl, toss together the riced cauliflower, parsley, bell pepper, kohlrabi, onion, oil, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 16, 2022
This lightning-quick recipe smartly swaps riced cauliflower for ground beef, then seasons and serves it with the same toppings.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2021
They had tea, herbal soup, fried eggs, steam riced and Chinese sausages and vegetables ready and waiting when I arrived.
From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2019
Our family recipe relies heavily on butter, cream and potatoes, which are boiled and then riced.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 20, 2018
Garnish with a border of toast or riced potatoes.
From Miss Parloa's New Cook Book by Maria Parloa
This takes the work out of ricing a head of cauliflower, for instance, and makes mincing garlic and ginger less of a chore.
From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2023
A 44-year-old single dad, he takes his two boys and a nephew ricing to help cover the bills and for the kids to buy video games.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 20, 2022
But the beds are “continually shrinking,” said White, who’s been ricing for three decades.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 20, 2022
“Ricing to me is real spiritual. There’s a lot who have gone home already, and when I’m ricing, the harder I work … the closer I am to them.”
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 20, 2022
They were planning this year’s sugaring, a time everyone looked forward to with joy and excitement, as much as ricing, maybe even more.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
