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.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Rye grows in stubborn soil and stores well.
From Salon • Mar. 8, 2026
"Liverpool still look as though there's a piece missing," said Jan from Rye.
From BBC • Jan. 1, 2026
“It’s a very sweet place to be,” said John Ward, an 82-year-old retiree in Rye, N.Y., of his rising retirement balance.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 8, 2025
Their affair triggered Putnam’s divorce, and the pair married in 1931, residing at his estate in Rye, N.Y.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 11, 2025
In the summers we’d all get together, these men and their families, drive up to Westchester to some park in Mount Kisco or Rye.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
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.
