a widely cultivated cereal grass, Secale cereale, having one-nerved glumes and two- or three-flowered spikelets.
the seeds or grain of this plant, used for making flour and whiskey, and as a livestock feed.
a straight whiskey distilled from a mash containing 51 percent or more rye grain.
Northeastern U.S. and Canada. a blended whiskey.
a tall hardy widely cultivated annual grass, Secale cereale , having soft bluish-green leaves, bristly flower spikes, and light brown grain See also wild rye
the grain of this grass, used in making flour and whiskey, and as a livestock food
Also called: rye whiskey. whiskey distilled from rye. US whiskey must by law contain not less than 51 per cent rye
short for rye bread
before 900; Middle English; Old English ryge; cognate with Old Norse rūgr; akin to Dutch rogge, German Roggen
First recorded in 1850–55; from Romani rai “man, gentleman,” ultimately from Sanskrit rājan “king”; see origin at rajah ( def. )
Rye is a grain that's commonly used to make things like bread and beer. So much rye is grown in Eastern Europe that it's known as the "rye belt." The earliest rye appeared as invasive weeds that grew in fields of wheat. Once people began harvesting and making food with it, they realized what a hearty and versatile grain it was. Because rye grows in poor soils and thrives even with limited amounts of sunlight, it was once commonly referred to as a "poverty grain." Today you can find rye all over the supermarket, in bread, flour, crackers, and whiskey.
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But after peaking in 2022 at 31.2 million nine-liter cases, consumption of American whiskey—including bourbon, Tennessee whiskey, rye and single malts—has slowed.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026
I use it two days later to buy a loaf of rye bread, plus pastries for Salmon and me: ham-and-cheese croissant, cinnamon bun.
From Slate • May 10, 2026
Washington retired two years later to Mount Vernon, where—perhaps inspired by the rebellion—he became a successful distiller of rye and corn whiskey.
From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026
It was a newly installed hybrid field of rye and synthetic grass that could endure the wear and tear of 300-pound combatants.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 6, 2025
Attendants served the dogs up on rye bread, and when that ran out, hungry fans had to hold their dogs in old newspapers and then discarded mutuel tickets.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
